Puppet Master: Puppet Wars Book 2 Bloodlines
by Vaulk
Summary: Sequel to Puppet Vs Puppet
1. Chapter 1

**Puppet Master: Bloodlines**

**Written by Vaulk and Moviegal007**

**Chapter One**

**The Beginning**

The waves crashed beside the shore at the edge of the Bodega Bay Inn. They seemed to echo in the now remodeled hotel. After the events that had transpired over 10 years prior, the owners of the Inn, Rick and Suzie Myers, decided to transform the dilapidated Inn into a museum dedicated to the greatest puppeteer the world had known, Andre Toulon.

The Toulon Doll and Puppet Museum was to be the pride of the Myers family. Everything they had in their lives was due to Andre Toulon. So, naturally, they wanted to thank him.

True, there were collections of other dolls and puppet from throughout the world there now, but they were in other sections of the museum, the largest, the entire third floor, was for Andre alone.

To the world, Andre Toulon had passed on, along with his wife some time ago. Though no one knew that they were in fact still alive in the bodies of the husband and wife team called Dollman and Ginger.

Dollman and his wife had met Toulon and his living puppets over 10 years ago, during the time Rick called "The puppet wars". Dollman, also called Brick Bardo, and his wife had come to the Inn because of her interest in the paranormal and Bodega Bay Inn was full of that.

Toulon, many years prior to that, had been given, by an Egyptian Sorceror, the means to animate inanimate objects and transfer souls into the puppet's bodies. This gave them their own unique personalities, but also instilled immortality to them.

Unfortunately, some of his puppets did not like the idea of being trapped in a shell for eternity and turned on him, using the grandson of the Nazi who shot and killed Toulon's wife, Elsa. She had managed to live on, in a creation of Andre's named Mrs. Leech or Leech Woman.

Toulon himself was being sought by the Germans and in a last act, shot and killed himself while inside the Inn. His puppets that were still loyal to Toulon, were able to resurrect him from the grave and his soul was transferred into his final puppet, Decapitron.

In later years, Rick was called on to become the new Puppet Master and keep the formula of animation and life safe. He did so willingly and stood by the puppets and Toulon when Nathan Krauss, the grandson, created his own army of Toulon's Retro puppets, he fought.

The battle was intense and took tolls on both sides. Dollman and Ginger were gravely injured and the large puppet known as Pinhead met his demise at the hands of his doppleganger.

Using an ancient formula, Elsa and Andre were able to transfer their souls into Brick and Ginger's bodies as they had been given to them as a final, selfless act of kindness upon their death.

Krauss himself, whose only ambition was to find the secret of eternal life, was given just what he wanted in the end. Rick had subdued and knocked him unconscious and was going to kill him when Andre intervened, telling him he had a better idea.

Krauss had awoken, strapped down to a table and unable to move. He saw Rick's face looking down at him as he heard the words, "Well, we decided to give you that which you wanted so badly." And turned the table up to see himself in a small mirror.

An ugly, distorted face looked back at him. A face of a puppet! This particular puppet had been created using the parts of many of the battle's victims. One of Six-shooter's arms, Blade's hook hand, Pinhead's head and body and the feet and boots of Dr. Death.

"We're going to call you…Abomination. Now the ugliness of the inside is reflected on the outside." Said the voice of Andre Toulon speaking through Decapitron.

The serum they had given Abomination was only meant to last a short while. Then, the punishment would begin for his crimes. Krauss would be able to see and hear, but not move for eternity.

Soon after that, Rick's wife, Suzie gave birth to Jacob Myers, commonly known as Jake.

Using the means of complex paperwork and Krauss' signature, Rick and Suzie had "inherited" the Inn from Krauss who was the current owner. No one ever asked what happened to him, only that the citizens of the town were glad someone was doing something positive with the Inn.

The museum became a great success, bringing in people from all over to see the works on display.

Jake was only 10 when his father called him into his private study one day. The dark haired youth had never been allowed in here, always being told it was forbidden. This was frustrating, because being home schooled meant he had a lot of time on his hands here and always wondered what was so bad about that room.

His father walked in with him, setting him on a bench near his table and asked, "Jake, have you ever wondered about your secret friends?"

Of course, Jake knew he was referring to his puppet friends who were able to run around and play with him without any strings or batteries.

"I always figured it was magic. That's what mom always said." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Rick chuckled, "Well, in a way, it is. I figure you're old enough now to know the truth about them."

A cough from behind them, caused them to both turn as a 13 inch tall man with white hair walked in, now sporting a goatee and moustache, the face of Brick Bardo carried a big smile.

"Hello Rick. Jake."

"Hello Andre." Rick said as he got up and walked over to the Dollman, picking him up and setting him on the table.

"I was just about to have "The Talk" with Jake here."

"Ah." Andre said, "Then I arrived at the right time, haven't I?"

Although he had met Andre at a very early age, Jake was told that Andre was "born different" than other people and he would never grow any bigger than he was now. All of that was about to change.

Rick knew it was going to be a lot for his son to take in, but he had to know the truth. One day, he would take over watching over the puppets and had to learn everything Rick and Andre could teach him.

"Jake," Rick began, "Andre wasn't born a small man like he looks today. In fact, this isn't even Andre's real body."

Jake laughed, knowing this was probably just some kind of joke from his dad. He loved to play practical jokes on his dad all the time with his favorite buddy, Jester.

But his dad wasn't laughing, nor was Andre as the grin disappeared from his face.

"I don't get it, dad."

Rubbing his chin, Rick tried to figure out how to start.

"Okay son, let me tell you a story."

Jake nodded and sat back as Rick began to tell him the tale of Andre Toulon, a great puppeteer who had been given the life giving formula a very long time ago. The story continued on as Jake was told about the demon Sutekh who tried to get the formula back and had sent little minions called Totems to Rick and Suzie. How the puppets Toulon had created became their defenders and stopped the evil.

Then, he was told about recent events. How the Inn had been taken over by a very evil man named Krauss. How he had turned Toulon's puppets bad and was eventually defeated and placed in the Abomination puppet.

"So that's why you never let me in that room upstairs? That's where you keep him?" Jake asked.

Andre nodded, "Without the serum of life, he is nothing more than a shell, but we think it best you never even look upon him."

To any other child, this story would have belonged in a book of fairy tales. Stuff like this couldn't be true. But Jake was no ordinary child. He played with these puppets. Talked to the 13 inch tall Andre on a daily basis. Sure it scared him, thinking about these evil puppets that they were talking about. But they were gone now. His father and Andre assured him of that. They had been given the death they so wanted and had been released.

Now, their puppet bodies had been repaired and set among the works of Andre Toulon in the museum beside Decapitron and Mrs. Leech.

Only Blade, Jester, Six-Shooter and Tunneler remained among the living. They were his friends, companions and protectors.

Jake remembered a time playing outside that a mean dog had tried to bite him only to find Blade's knife poking into his nose, causing the mutt to run off, howling in pain.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Moving On**

Jake left home when he turned 17 years old. It wasn't that he didn't get along with his parents or the puppets. Simply put, Jake felt it was time to go out into the world and make a name for himself. For many years he was known as "Rick Myers' kid" among the high ranking technology schools. But he wanted to be more than that. He wanted to make his own niche in the world of technology.

Yes, he had learned a great deal from his father, with all of those late night sessions working on the computer and learning different programming languages as well as technical data passed down from his father to himself. This included the program he had been working on when his father had first arrived at the Inn so many years ago.

Jake seemed to just be able to soak in all of the information at a miraculous pace. Almost a little too well. His mother was worried something might be wrong with him and Jake had been taken to a doctor. In the end, there was a simple explanation. Jake was a Mnemonist, that is, he possessed the unusual ability to recall long lists of information including names and numbers. This allowed him to remember formulas, data and titles when working on computer programs and working with his father.

But the one thing he loved to do was carve. His imagination led him to create several small figurines, only a few inches tall as well as the head for a new puppet he had been considering.

Jester had been a large influence on him from the time he had been old enough to crawl to this very day. Their shared love of laughter made Jester happy all the time when they were around each other. Particularly when Jake was working on the head with Jester seated on the windowsill above.

The face on the head showed that of a man with a broad grin embedded on his face. A smile that made a person curious what the puppet was up to. The eyes were deep set, and slightly narrowed as if wondering what it was YOU were up to. 

The day he was accepted to the Phoenix Division's technology program was one of the happiest in his life. His parents were both proud of him, yet worried at the same time, but wouldn't tell him why.

On the day he was to leave, Rick handed him Jester.

"Take him."

Jake shook his head, frowning, "Dad, he belongs here with the others. I can't take him."

His mother shook her head, "He belongs with you, Jake. You're his best friend. I can't remember a single night growing up you didn't have him beside you in bed. It's only right he go with you. Besides, you'll eventually be back and Jester would miss you too much in the meantime."

Jester nodded vigorously at that statement.

Jake sighed, to be honest, he didn't want to leave his friend.

Smiling, he said "C'mon Jester. The world awaits."

The small puppet's head swirled around to that of a smile before whispering something.

Nodding, Rick set him down as he moved to the other three puppets gathered to say goodbye to Jake.

There was a sound of whispers and hisses before Jester walked over to Jake's feet. Bending down to pick him up, he asked, "Saying goodbye?"

Jester nodded once, turning his head to look back as Jake hugged his parents and then headed out to the car.

"Okay," Jake thought, two years later at the age of 19, "This isn't quite the way I thought things were going to be."

Sitting at a tiny breakfast table, he looked out the dirty window at the city. Well, not the best part of the city to be sure. Shootings, muggings, and robberies were commonplace where he and Jester lived.

Yes, the education and work he had gotten was great, but with finances the way they were, he couldn't afford anything better. True, his parents always offered him money if he needed it, but he always insisted they were fine and didn't need any help. After all, he had left to be on his own. To stand by himself without any help from them. If he asked for help now he felt as though he was admitting failure. Failing what he wasn't sure, himself? Perhaps his parents hope in him?

Looking around the studio apartment, he sighed. This definitely was not what he had dreamed it would be. One small couch that made out into a bed with holes on the sides, a black and white TV sitting on a milk crate and two more in front of the couch with a blank of wood on it acting as a coffee table.

He looked over at Jester who was in his usual spot, looking out the window.

"Morning buddy." He said in a cheerful voice.

Looking over, Jester's sad face was on as he seemed to sigh.

Walking over to him, he patted the puppet on the back, "I know, I know. I miss them too. Sorry we haven't been back, but with the way the car has been acting, I don't want to chance making the long trip. It's over 48 hours to get back. If it breaks down on me, I'm screwed."

He wanted his friend to understand, to try and cheer up, but Jester simply turned back and looked out the window.

Jake knew it hadn't been easy for Jester, so used to spending so much time with him. Now, he spent his days looking out the window, looking forward to when Jake would come back home and spend a few hours with him before going to bed.

"Look, I'll tell you what. I'm supposed to be getting a bonus this next week. If I get it, I'll make the trip, okay?"

Jester's head spun around revealing the smile Jake loved to see.

In truth, Jake had been working on something at the Phoenix Division in his spare time. Something no one there knew about. Feeling guilty about Jester being all alone, Jake had nearly finished his own puppet. The body was built from a metal alloy covering the wooden pieces, to ensure durability. The head was attached, now fully designed, a small pair of what appeared to be X-ray glasses, the kind found in the back of comic books on top of his spiked black hair. Wearing a pair of purple pants and a turquoise shirt, he had a gunslinger belt one, containing two small guns. On his back, ninja-style, was a sash with assorted little weapons and gadgets.

It sat for the past two weeks on his lab table at the Phoenix Division. He had re-coded the access panel on his door for a little added security. His father and Andre had showed him how to transfer a spirit into a puppet's body, but the problem was, he didn't have one. At least not until two days later.

Dexter "Dex" Williamson was the prankster of the section Jake was in. His main target was women, but he had no problem pulling a prank or two on the guys as well. This was everything from blasting an entire can of shaving cream under a locked door to filling a cubicle with packing popcorn. On the women, he had snuck into the women's restroom and covered the bottom of the lid with see-through saran wrap.

Needless to say, that didn't go over well, yet he was not fired. It was simply his nature to try and get a laugh out of anyone. He was a really great guy. Then, he had to go and pull a prank at some biker at a bar. Hours later, it was Jake who got the phone call.

"Sir?" asked a voice on the phone on night at 11:45.

"Yes?" Grumbled Jake, half-awake.

"Is this Jake Myers?"

Jake nodded, though he didn't know why, "Sorry. Yeah. Who is this?"

"Sir, this is Officer Morgan of the Police Department. There's been an incident at a local drinking establishment and there was a fatality involving a Dexter Williamson. We found your number at the top of his cell contact list. Does he have any family?"

"No." Jake replied, still in shock at hearing Dex had been killed.

"Can you please come identify the body to make sure it's him? His wallet was gone and he has no identification, just the cell phone listing his name."

Sighing, Jake replied, "I'll be down in a half hour." And hung up the phone.

Soon, he was staring down at the mutilated face of Dexter. Jake had heard of people "beating someone to a pulp" before, but had never seen it. Dexter's face was literally a pulp. Yet, he was still identifiable.

"That's Dexter." He said to the officer beside him.

"Thank you. That's all we need." Said the older man beside him, about to push the body back into the locker.

"Can I please have a moment alone with him?" Jake asked, "We were close."

The officer nodded, "Of course." And walked out of the room.

Reaching into his pocket, Jake removed the ring he had brought with him. It was given to him by his father before leaving, saying "Something tells me you might need it sometime."

Well, dad had been right as always.

Looking down at the body, he inserted the needle that emerged from the ring into the lower part of the neck of the corpse. Muttering a few words in another language, he pulled back, the needle going back into the ring.

After leaving the station, he made his way, in a daze, back to the Division and his lab.

Flicking on the lights, he went to Trickster and flipped the puppet over onto its stomach.

As he did so, the needle emerged, as if knowing what to do. Injecting it into the neck of the puppet, he began chanting the words he had been taught. After a moment, he removed the needle as it slipped back into the ring.

Looking over at the cabinet, he went over and opened it, removing the small vial of green liquid which was only a quarter full, having used most of it on Jester.

Filling a syringe with the remaining quarter, he injected it into the neck of the puppet and squeezed down, filling it.

Setting the syringe aside, he flipped it over onto its back and began to speak to it.

"Dex…I know you won't understand what's happening, but I had to do this. You didn't have to die that way, just being yourself. I need to know that this is okay with you. If you don't want this and want to move on, I can release you, but I need to know."

The puppet remained still for what seemed to be hours before it finally sat up of its own accord.

Moving back a little, Jake watched as Trickster got to his feet and looked at him, the smile etched on his face.

"Do you wish to remain in there my friend?"

Trickster examined his body for a moment before simply nodded once as the x-ray glasses dropped down and let out a sinister "Hee hee hee." Dex…Trickster was already probably thinking of all sorts of mischief this smaller body could get into.

Jake nodded with a grin. He feared he had not performed everything to the degree he needed to.

"I cannot bring you with me right now. I need to arrange something first. You can remain here tonight and I will come for you tomorrow. Is this okay?"

Again, Trickster nodded.

Back at the apartment, Jake was about to go and get him, bringing him home as a companion for Jester.

"Alright buddy. I need to go run a few errands and then I'll be back."

But before he could open the door, the doorbell rang.

Opening the door up to the chain latch, he looked out to see a postal worker standing there. Shutting the door, he unlatched the chair and reopened it.

"Yes?"

"Are you Jacob Myers?" asked the balding man.

Jake nodded.

"I'm very sorry for the lateness of this latter, sir. We found it along with a batch of 20 other letters stuck behind one of the sorting machines downtown. I'm afraid it's about two months late. But, better late than never. Please sign."

He held out a clipboard and pen which Jake signed as the postal worker handed him the letter and thanked him.

Shutting and re-latching the door, he sat down on the couch and opened it, saying, "It's from mom and dad."

Scanning it over once, his eyes narrowed, "Something's wrong, Jester."

Hopping off the windowsill, Jester ran over to the couch and climbed it, sitting on the back overlooking Jake's shoulder.

"They say they want me to come back as soon as possible. Something about there's something weird going on at the museum. They're worried about us."

Setting the letter on the couch he looked to the side, "Looks like we're going home early, Jes. But first, we need to make a stop at the Phoenix. I need to grab something before we go." Jake said grabbing his backpack.

To his great surprise, the car did indeed make the trip, though it was still making that funny clunking sound whenever he drove over 70 mph. It was night now as he pulled into the parking lot and got out, putting Jester on his shoulder, something Jester always liked.

As he approached the front door, he found the lights off and the doors locked although it was only 7:00.

Knocking a few times, he waited before pulling out his key and unlocking the door, going inside and then re-locking it.

"Hello?" He shouted out, "Mom? Dad?"

There was no reply as he flicked on the lights, illuminating the show room. Forgetting for a moment where he was, he turned and was face to face with Leech Woman.

"Augh!" he shouted, nearly sending Jester to the floor, had the puppet not grabbed a handful of his hair.

"Sorry Jes," Jake said, shaking his head, "Scared the crap out of me for a second."

Tapping the case with his finger, Jake continued looking around, not finding around.

Heading upstairs to the living area, he immediately smelled something terrible.

"Phew!" said Jake as he entered the kitchen, "Someone has definitely left something out."

As he turned on the light, he saw he was right.

The kitchen table was filled with a bowl of rotted salad, two plates with some type of meat and vegetable on it and a moldy cake.

"This stuff has been out at least a month."

Jester whispered something as Jake nodded, "I agree, Jes. Where are the others?"

Moving down the hallway, he looked in every room until he found Tunneler and Six Shooter lying on the bed of his father's private study. Both looked stiff and were not moving.

A vial of the green liquid sat on the shelf as he moved to get it.

From beneath the bed, a tiny figure shot out, grabbing his foot and was about to slash into it with its knife when Jake yelled down.

"Blade!"

The brim of the hat rose as the ghostly white face looked up at him before raising a hand in salute and stopped.

Reaching down to pick him up, Jake sat him on the table.

"What's going on here? Where is everyone?"

Blade slowly shook his head from side to side, tilting over slightly.

"Whoa." Said Jake, picking him back up, "You look like you guys haven't had any serum for a while."

Reaching over to the shelf, he grabbed the vial and the syringe beside it, filling it.

Flipping Blade over, he injected a small amount into the puppet's neck before doing the same with the two on the bed.

"How's that?" he asked a few moments later as all three began to stretch and move around.

"Now," Jake said, "Where are my parents?"

To his disappointment, none of them knew. Something they shared by shaking their heads.

Blade told him via whispers and hisses that the last thing he remembered was Rick saying something about the Abomination. After that, Blade had been stuck in the study for the longest time as Rick closed the door on him.

A banging on his back made Jake turn and remove his backpack as he sat it on the bed and unzipped it.

"Sorry about that buddy."

Popping out, Trickster let out a high pitch, "He he he he!"

Blade immediately backed off slightly.

Jester, however, let out his normal, "Ooooo!" as his face swiveled to surprise.

"Yeah guys, this one is mine. His name is Dexter the Trickster, or Trickster for short." Jake said, chuckling.

Trickster looked around at the others before simply plopping down on the bed, sitting.

"I need to find out what the hell is going on, but first, I want to go see this Abomination."

Immediately, Blade was on his feet, crossing his hook and knife hands while Jester jumped up beside him, shaking his head.

"Come on guys," Jake stated, "This thing is immobilized. It can't do anything to me. I'm not sure what the hell my dad was always afraid of. Blade," he said, looking down, "You said my father mentioned him. I need to know if something is going on. Lead the way."

Jumping from the bed, Blade took the lead as the other puppets jumped down, following to the sides and behind Jake to protect him.

Going down the hall, Blade pointed to the door leading up to the next floor as Jake reached over and opened it.

Climbing the stairs, they all proceeded to the next floor and stopped in front of a door on the right side of the hallway with a small red X painted on it.

Carefully opening it, Jake reached in and turned on the light. The sight that was before him was nothing like he had expected. The room was barren except for a small table with a grotesque puppet on a stand.

Walking in, Jake looked around, "Is this it? This is what I was forbidden to see?"

Blade, however, was more cautious as he ran in front of Jake to take the lead, stopping at the base of the stand.

Stopping next to him, Jake looked down at the puppet and prodded its chest with his right index finger, "Don't seem so dangerous to me." He said.

Getting to one knee, he looked at the disfigured face and smiled, "So, from what I've been told, you can see and hear me just fine. So, listen ugly. If I find that you are somehow involved in the disappearance of my parents…" he got close and whispered, "What they did to you is nothing compared to what I'll do. I'll make you wish you were just stuck in there."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**The Other Toulon**

Leaving Abomination where he was Jake went back downstairs, still carrying his backpack and looked outside.

"The weather seems to be fitting the mood. Looks like it's going to rain soon."

It was now nearly ten at night as Jake stretched he spoke, "Ok, guys. I'm going to go try to contact Andre and Elsa to see if they know what's going on and I'd like a look out team to stay down here tonight."

Looking at those assembled, he asked, "Blade? Would you mind staying with Six and Trickster tonight?"

Blade's head swiveled to look at Trickster who was walking around the lobby, as if trying to figure out what trouble he could get into.

Turning back, he slowly raised his hand in a salute while hissing.

Jake chuckled, "Yes, he can be a handful, but try to take it easy on him."

He was about to leave when he said, "Oh yeah, here…" as he knelt down and opened the backpack, pulling out a small walkie talkie.

"Just push this button and I'll hear you." He said as he sat it down in a corner.

Turning, he, Jester and Tunneler went back up to Jake's room.

Looking to his side, Blade noticed Trickster was nowhere to be found as he looked at Six and made a slashing movement across his throat.

Six nodded as his bandana went up.

Upstairs, Jake took out the other walkie and set it on the bedside table before tossing the backpack on the ground and lying on the bed, soon accompanied by Jester and Tunneler.

Removing his cell, he dialed in a number and waited. After several moments, a message came on.

"You have reached Andre and Elsa. Leave a message."

Sighing, he replied, "Andre, its Jake. Look, something weird is going on here at the museum. Mom and dad sent me a letter asking me to come back quickly. I get here and it looks like they've been gone for around a month or so and I have no idea where they are. If you know anything, please give me a call. Love you guys." Jake hung up the phone feeling frustrated.

Taking in a deep breath, he laid his head on the pillow saying, "I'm just going to shut my eyes for a few minutes you two."

Within those two minutes, he was fast asleep.

The small, beat up Volkswagon puttered into the parking lot of the Myer's Museum of Puppetry only a few minutes before the rain began to trickle down onto the windshield.

Shutting the lights off, the driver quickly got out of the car and shut it before turning back and muttering, "Damn it! I locked the keys in the car! Stupid! Could this get any worse?" before turning and hurrying to the lobby doors.

There were no lights inside as the young woman of 18 tried opening the doors, rattling them.

"Hello? Helloooo?" she said, knocking on the door for several minutes. She didn't see anyone coming as she let out an exasperated sigh, "This is great. All I needed was to be stuck outside in the middle of a rainstorm." She said as the rain began to come down in sheets.

She thought she may as well just break the window and get in the car. Sleep there until the morning as she didn't have the money for a motel or even a cup of hot chocolate at the local diner.

As she began to walk away, she heard a slight click and turned back to the door.

Reaching out, she pulled once and the door opened easily for her.

Moving inside, the door shut behind her, hitting her in the backside as she called out, "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm sorry to intrude so late."

There was no response as she kept moving forward.

"Thank you for letting me in," she began to say, "It's coming down bad out there." Truth be told she was rather soaked as the water dripped down the edges of her short black coat forming a small puddle around her black flat shoes. Pushing a stray wet strand of hair out of her eyes, she began to walk deeper into the building.

Fumbling her fingers along the wall, she found the light switch and turned it on. Looking to where her hand was, she saw a small figure in a brown trench coat with some type of flamethrower aimed at her.

Letting out a muffled scream, her hand closed over her mouth before she realized it was only a puppet in a glass case.

Taking in several deep breaths, she muttered, "Who the hell would make a creepy looking puppet like that? You really scared me little guy."

As she continued to look around, she swore she could hear little feet running across the tiled floor, following the soft click of her own shoes but she stopped each time to look behind her and seeing no one she began to get a bit frightened.

"Look," she finally said, stopping in her tracks, "I appreciate you letting me in, I really do. But could you please come out so I can thank you properly?"

There was only a moment or two before she saw a little puppet emerge from the shadows. Only this puppet was unlike any she had ever seen before. This one was moving without any strings of any kind.

A little comical looking, he had a pair of x-ray specs on the top of his head and was carrying what appeared to be a little toy gun in its hand.

"Um." She said, unsure what to say, but going with, "Hello."

The puppet stopped, looking up at her and nodded to her.

"Are you the one who let me in?" she asked, feeling rather foolish and rather excited, talking to a toy.

The small puppet shook its head and pointed over behind her shoulder.

Turning, she saw another puppet standing there. This one was wearing a black trench coat and fedora, a knife and hook for hands.

"He let me in?" she asked, still shocked at the little puppet's gothic face.

Blade gave a nod.

She shook her head, "I need to sit down." She whispered, sitting in the nearest chair, next to a table with maps of the museum.

The purple and turquoise clothed puppet moved to stand in front of her and raised his little gun.

"Not now, please." She said, rubbing her temples, "I've got a really bad headache." Blade hissed slightly. Was the girl really not afraid of them?

Pulling the trigger of the gun, a little pop sound was heard as a little metal needle and banner popped out the end, a liquid dripping from the tip. As the banner rolled down, it simply read, "BANG!"

Shaking her head again as if trying to awaken from a dream, she said, "Cute. I'm sure I'll find it funny later."

A second pull of the trigger and another pop was heard. This time, however, the small needle was projected through the air, hitting her in the neck.

"Ow!" she screamed out, grabbing the needle and pulling it out, before smelling an unusual odor from the end of it.

"What the hell did you do you little…" she began to say as she stood up, debating whether she could kick the little puppet across the room.

Trickster laughed, mentally thinking she was thinking about that and doing a good backflip, Trickster avoided her with ease as she took a step back and collapsed into the chair once more.

The world began to get fuzzy and warm as she looked at the two puppets coming toward her.

"What's going on?" she asked as the world faded into darkness.

As she shut her eyes, Six approached her from behind.

Blade motioned to him as he removed his lasso, whirling it over his head before throwing it around her arms. Pulling tight, he began tying the other end to the chair as Blade moved to the corner where the walkie-talkie was.

Pushing it, he hissed for several moments before Jake's voice sleepily replied, "Okay, I'll be out in a second."

A door upstairs opened as footsteps were heard before Jake's face looked down over the balcony, "Who the hell is that?" he asked spotting the prone form on the chair, before turning and heading to the elevator.

Trickster, meanwhile had dropped his x-ray glasses over his eyes and was standing in front of his captive, looking at her while his head was slightly turned to one side.

As Jake exited the elevator, he walked up and looked down at the woman before noticing him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

The little jokester whispered something as Jake frowned, "No, I won't let you interrogate her. You've already drugged her, isn't that enough?"

Trickster simply shook his head.

"Go bug Blade." He said, shaking his head as he patted her down, looking for any means of identification and not finding any.

Grabbing another chair, he pulled it over into the corner which was hidden in shadows before coming back.

"Okay, we're going to find out exactly who this is, but how about we have some fun doing it?" he asked the others who readily agreed.

The girl was woken up abruptly as a stream of water hit her in the face.

Shaking her head, she turned to the side and saw Trickster sitting there with his little hand holding on to the end of a flower squirter pinned to his shirt.

Letting out a "He he he!" he leapt from the chair and ran off into the darkness.

Trying to get up, she found herself tied to the chair as she shook around and hopped up and down for several moments with no success. Her feet were apparently tied to the legs of the chair.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that. You might tip over and hit that pretty little head of yours." A voice said from the furthest corner, concealed in darkness.

"Who are you?" she called out trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"I might ask you the same question. Breaking into a museum in the dead of night. You must be up to no good." Replied the voice.

"I was let in here by that creepy puppet with the gothic face!" she screamed back. She was shaking now but from her wet clothes chilling her or from fear of the voice in the dark she didn't know.

There was a moment when she swore she heard the voice whisper, "Why didn't you tell me you let her in?"

Another moment and then, "That doesn't matter! Who are you and why are you here?"

She shook her head, "I don't feel like talking when I'm tied to this chair and when I can't see who I'm talking to."

"Perhaps you'll feel more…talkative after this. Jester!"

She heard something by her feet before feeling her shoes being untied and taken off, followed by her socks.

"Going to cut into my feet with a knife?" she asked, trying not to sound as horrified as she really was. But Jake saw through her pretend bravery. You don't grow up in a puppet and doll museum without learning how to tell when someone is pretending.

"Hardly." Replied the voice as Jester removed a single feather…and began to tickle the underside of her feet.

She couldn't help it. She bit her lip and tried so hard, but that was her Achilles's heel. She was so ticklish on her feet! She began to smile, while still biting her lip, but soon couldn't hold it in and began to laugh.

Shaking her head, she didn't want to be in this position. Whoever had her tied up surely had the advantage as she continued to laugh like a little girl.

"Jester." Said the voice as the tickling stopped, "Now, care to tell me who you are?"

Taking in several breaths, she replied, "Tabitha."

"Well, that's a start," said the voice, "Tabitha what?"

She shook her head in defiance once more as the voice said, "Suit yourself. Jester."

The tickling resumed, only this time whoever the man was in the shadows let it continue for several minutes before calling off his little puppet. Of course by then, she had nearly wet herself.

"One last chance. Next time I'll let him tickle until you go on the chair."

She knew it was useless trying to fight back, if only it was anything but tickling, as she said, "Tabitha Toulon."

From below, the sounds of an "Oooo!" was heard as a puppet in a Jester outfit came into view moving quickly into the shadows. She had hit a nerve with this statement.

A young man emerged from the shadows, smiling and running his hand through his hair before he stopped mere inches from her face. He bent his knees down till he was staring into her startlingly blue eyes.

"Miss…Tabitha isn't it?"

She nodded.

"Cut the crap. You're no Toulon. There aren't any among us anymore." He said, his face showing no sign of humor in it.

She growled back, with a fierce look of her own, "I AM a Toulon. So, your information seems to be flawed."

"So what are your grandparent's names then?"

"Robert Toulon and Mary."

Looking down, he sighed, "Look, we are very protective of the Toulon bloodline here, but I know for a fact, it ended with Andre. You're no relation to him."

"Andre Toulon was my Grandfather's brother!" she shouted out, getting very angry now, her eyes narrows and nostrils flared.

Slamming both of his hands down on the arms of the chair, he yelled back, "Quit lying to me!" before the sound of a phone ringing in his pocket stopped him from saying anything more.

"I'll be back." He said, turning and walking from the room, saying over his shoulder, "Watch her!"

Soon, she was surrounded by four puppets on all sides.

Answering the phone, he let out a sigh of relief, "Damn, it's glad to hear your voice, Andre."

"What's happening there?" asked Andre from the other end of the phone.

"Like I said, I got a letter from mom and dad telling me to get back here. I show up and no one is around. Blade is barely awake and the others were sleeping due to not getting any formula. The place looks like it's been abandoned for about a month. Blade tells me he heard them mention Abomination, so I went and checked on him."

"You went in there?" Andre asked, not believing this.

"Yeah. I have to say he looks like he's still dead. Perched there on his little stand. So, I left him there and just now we caught someone breaking in."

"Breaking into the museum?"

"Well," Jake said, correcting himself, "I wouldn't say breaking in. Blade let her in."

"Her?" Andre asked, "It's a woman?"

Jake nodded, "Yeah. We have her tied to a chair, but I know she's after something here. It's obvious."

Andre's voice was confused, "How do you know this?"

"She lied about who she was."

Andre sighed, "What identity did she give you?"

"Tabitha Toulon, granddaughter of Robert and Mary." Jake chuckled.

There was silence before Jake asked, "Hello? Andre?"

A startled voice replied, "Jake. I'm afraid she may be telling you the truth."

Jake was dumbfounded, "Andre, you told us that you had no other relatives."

"Jake," Andre began to explain, "I told your father about my brother. We simply never mentioned him because he was already dead. You see, he and I had a falling out while we were in Paris. He was a notorious ladies man and I was with Elsa. We had words one night about the puppets. He despised them and thought me a fool to continue my missions with them. We soon parted ways and I lost track of him. Later, I had heard he had married a woman named Mary James, soon to be Mary Toulon."

Jake simply sat there, not believing what he was hearing.

"In time, we did get back in touch with one another. He still wanted nothing to do with the puppets, but we managed to stay on speaking terms. I didn't know they were expecting a child. Of course, this was back when I was among the living. So, a lot could have happened. There is more I need to tell you about Robert, but now is not the time. Elsa and I will leave immediately and come back there. Whatever you do, keep her safe. If someone is after the formula, they will want you and her dead."

Nodding his head, Jake muttered, "O-okay."

The phone clicked off on the other end as Jake hung up the phone sighing. Now this was going to be embarrassing.

Heading back into the lobby, he walked up to Tabitha before saying, "Blade, cut her loose."

Nodding the puppet moved to the chair and began cutting the ropes until they fell to the floor.

Extending his hand he said, "It seems as though I owe you an apology. Sorry for not believing you."

Cautiously, she took it and stood up, rubbing her arms, before asking, "So, why the sudden belief in me?"

"It's a very long story." He said, shaking his head.

"I've got plenty of time." She replied as her stomach rumbled.

Embarrassed, she put a hand on it, "Sorry about that. I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

Extending his hand, Jake smiled, "Come on, the kitchen's upstairs. We can talk more there."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Revelations

As they arrived in the kitchen Jake couldn't help but notice Tabitha was still shaking, she sniffed and finally he took note of her soaked through clothes. Excusing himself for a moment he returned with a grey sweat shirt and sweat pants from his closet.

"There's a bathroom back there you can change in." he said handing her the clothes, Tabitha took them and with a soft thank you went to change. She vaguely wondered where her shoes and socks had run off to.

Jake hurried to clean the mess in the kitchen. When Tabitha returned he realized his clothes were much too big for her, but it would do for now keeping her warm and dry, even if the sleeves covered her fingertips. Tabitha began asking many more questions concerning the puppets, Andre and Jake's parents. As he tried to answer some of them, he made them an early breakfast of Eggs, Sausage, bacon, waffles and his mother's homemade syrup. Jake had always been good at cooking, especially living by himself.

Before starting on the waffles, he looked over his shoulder at her.

Sitting there at the kitchen table, she was surrounded by the puppets that seemed to find her as curious as she found them. He grinned looking at the child-like gaze she had for them. Anyone else would have been terrified to see puppets moving of their own will. Maybe she really was a Toulon?

She caught his gaze and smiled, blushing slightly, though she didn't know why, before asking, "So, you said you were going to tell me the entire story. You know, about Andre and everything that's happened?"

Turning back to the waffles, he answered, "Okay, but I warn you, it's a very long story and I'm not exactly sure how much of it you're going to believe."

"I'll take my chances. Go on." She said, while Trickster ran past her on the floor, carrying a familiar black fedora in his hand, quickly followed by Blade who was hissing madly.

"Well," He began as Trickster ran past his feet, causing him to stop suddenly to keep from tripping, "Trickster! Give Blade back his hat! I swear…"

The hat was not given back exactly, more like thrown through the air to the oncoming white face puppet that stopped and looked up at Jake who knelt down, positioned it back on his head before Blade gave him a salute and then pursued Trickster.

Following this, he brought the waffles to the table and sat down across from her.

Looking into her beautiful blue eyes, he began to tell the story of everything he had been told by his parents and Andre.

By the time he was finished bringing her up to date, all of the breakfast had been eaten, Trickster was locked in a cupboard by Blade, who still had bits of turquoise material on his hook hand, and the other puppets were enjoying the show.

Tabitha was still sitting back in her chair, jaw agape after hearing everything. Contrary to what he thought, she did believe everything that had just been told to her. In some strange way, it all made sense. Though she would have to explain that to him.

"It's weird." She said, looking down at her plate as she moved her fork around in circles.

"Yeah, I know. I've had to tell the story to one other person before."

"No, that's not what I meant," she said, stopping him, "You see, the reason I came here is because for a while now, I've been having these strange dreams. They've been about moving puppets, hearing the name Toulon, and walking around in a museum, this one to be exact. It's like something was calling me here for some reason."

Jake nodded, "Well, this place is known for doing some weird things, not to mention you are of the Toulon bloodline."

"Speaking of bloodlines. I want to prove I'm a Toulon that I am who I say I am."

"I believe you, there is no need for that." Jake said but Tabitha shook her head.

"Please? I need this." The emotion in her eyes was enough to make Jake stand. There was a small vial that had been boiling slowly for many hours over on the sideboard of the kitchen.

"Do you understand what this is?" He asked brining it over. She nodded. By now all the puppets had gathered close to watch.

"Just two drops right?" She asked. He nodded and handed her a pin.

Biting her lip she pricked her finger and added it to the mixture. It boiled, foamed and changed in color and thickness with a strange unnatural glow beginning to form. Tabitha gasped and looked at Jake who was smiling. A soft oooh along with a chuckle and a hiss drew her attention and as she looked down the puppets bowed.

"What are they doing?" She smiled asking Jake.

He swirled the vial a bit in his hand as he spoke. "You're a Toulon, as pure and true as Andre himself and as I mentioned before we are very protective of the Toulon bloodline here."

"I wish I could see a picture of him. Andre, I mean." She said, setting the fork down and smiling, "That was a great breakfast, thank you."

Nodding, he set his glass of orange juice down and said, "You want to see him? I've got our family scrapbook down the hall. Since he's technically family to ours now, he and the puppets are all in it. Hang on and I'll go get it."

Standing, he excused himself and disappeared out the door.

As he left, the puppets began to follow, but then stopped and stared at her.

Smiling at them, she said, though didn't know why she felt so comfortable talking to them. After all, she couldn't understand their whispers and hisses like Jake could.

"You know, I was never allowed dolls or toys growing up. Maybe that's why I just want to hold you."

The puppets looked at one another. Almost as if they were trying to figure something out. Finally, Jester moved forward and extended his arms upward.

Her grin got broader as she bent over and lifted him into her arms, carrying him gently against her chest as if he were a child in her arms.

His head spun around to the smile face as she laughed. Reaching out she jingled one of the bells on his cap. He clapped and she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"Did you have a lot of dolls or toys growing up?" Jake asked from the doorway of the kitchen, smiling at the pair of them.

"No," She said looking over at him and then back down at Jester, "I was telling them that. My grandfather absolutely hated them. Toys, dolls, anything like that. They were forbidden in his home. My stepsister, my mom's first kid, no Toulon relation, took the only other ones in our house."

"Well," he said, sitting down with a rather large book bound in brown leather, "I don't think Jester will mind behind held too much. "

Jester shook his head as Jake said, "I grew up with these guys. They were all my protectors. Many a mean dog has scars on their noses from Blade's knife. Plus, you won't ever find a better person to play hide and seek with."

Looking over to him, Blade gave him another salute.

"Six Shooter was always the best when playing Cowboys and Indians and Tunnler there well I couldn't have done any wood projects growing up without him."

Six Shooter twirled his guns at the compliments and Tunnler turned his drill on a little in a form of blushing.

Moving over to sit beside her, Jake opened the book to the middle and began flipping through the pages of numerous people before coming to rest on an older picture of Andre at the Bodega Bay Inn.

"That's Andre." He said, pointing down. "Handsome guy wasn't...or rather isn't he?"

She laughed, "He looks a lot like my grandfather did. Same white hair, same moustache and beard. But there's something different about the eyes. Friendlier than my grandfather's ever was."

"That's Elsa." Jake said, pointing to another picture, more faded, "She was beautiful too."

Tabitha nodded, "Yes, she was." Before asking, "Is there a picture of what they look like now? I mean, since they were…transferred, I guess you would call it?"

"Yeah," he replied, flipping to the back of the book and then pointing to a picture of Brick and Ginger, "That's them now. Only 13 inches tall, but they still make a cute couple."

She laughed a little out loud, "Yes, they do."

A muffled "He he he" could be heard from the cupboard as well as a "Ooooo." From Jester.

Looking down, she asked, "You guys think that's funny too?"

Jake shook his head, "Nah, they just like all laughter, especially yours."

Looking over at him, she smiled brightly as he blushed slightly.

"You know, I was wondering why you had Jester tickle my feet instead of hurting me? From everything you said the puppet know a lot about punishing intruders."

Now Jake was blushing. In truth, he had loved her intoxicating laugh but that wasn't why he had Jester tickle her.

"The puppets…mirror the soul of the master and I might have been upset but, you hadn't tried to hurt them or break anything in the museum so I found no reason to right out…attack you."

Coughing to hide the fact he had also been a little turned on by her ticklish predicament, he closed the book, saying, "So, Andre said he and Elsa were catching the next flight here and for us to stay put for now. If that's the case, then I think I should put a sign on the door letting people know the museum will be closed for a while. I'll say renovating or something."

Getting up, he left the kitchen again as Tabitha watched him go, Jester tugged on her shirt and she smiled down at Jester.

The realm of the underworld was filled with the sounds of countless souls, screaming in pain and agony. It seemed to echo throughout every part of it. However, these sounds were like a piano concerto to the demon lord Sutaketh. A sound he never tired of hearing. Among his brethren, he was a force to be reckoned with.

It had been some time since Sutekh had failed in his mission to retrieve that which Sutaketh had given him to protect. The life giving formula to animate the inanimate. The formula had been meant to instill terror in those among the living. To give life to those things that instilled terror among the mortals. Instead, it had been stolen by the damned sorcerer Afzel who had later given it to the man known as Toulon.

Sutekh had been charged with bringing Afzel and Toulon down to the underworld where they would suffer greatly for their theft. Instead, Afzel took his own life and Toulon got away. Sutaketh knew that Toulon had taken his own life, of course, but that his soul had been transferred into a puppet, the same as his wife. Again, his plans for tormenting them for eternity had been thwarted.

At least, the demon thought, sitting in a grand throne chair made from the bones of the souls had had taken, "I still have one Toulon at my disposal."

Looking down, the figure of Robert Toulon was chained to a wall of rock, his mouth open screaming, though no scream exited it. His body flailed against the wall as if trying to escape the heat emanating from it.

"Soon, I will have the remaining living Toulons. All Five of them." He said to his awaiting minions, four half-men, half-oddities.

Where there should have been hands or feet, there were small spiked wheels. Their backs were covered with sharp ridges and protruding bones.

As their master spoke, they all cackled in agreement.

The next two days, Jake had shown Tabitha every inch of the museum, including showing her Abomination, much to Blade's dismay, which she had called, "Grotesque and disgusting."

She had taken a room on the same floor as Jake and was already beginning to like living here. He had assured her that since she was practically family, she was more than welcome to take up living there full time, to which she readily accepted.

He even let her watch as he began his next creation, a new puppet not even his father could have created. The idea for it had come when he had been watching a late night horror movie. Looking at the characters and movements, he thought it could work.

Finding the pieces around the museum was easy, though he still required many other small parts to make it work. When completed, it would make Decapitron look like a marionette.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Discoveries**

Two days passed at the museum with no word from Andre or Elsa. Jake thought it odd that the flight could take so long when it was only going to be a one day trip over there.

"Something's wrong." He told Tabitha on the third day, "They aren't answering their phones and they've checked out of the hotel they were staying at."

"Could they have been delayed somewhere?" she asked.

Jake shook his head, "I don't think so. They would have called if that had happened."

Sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, the pair now became very concerned.

"First mom and dad disappear, now this. I'm not being overly paranoid when I say I think there is definitely a coincidence here." Jake said running a hand through his hair.

Looking down at Blade, she asked, "You said that you know they mentioned that Abomination puppet?"

Blade nodded as she turned to Jake, "Perhaps we should go check on him again."

He frowned, "Tabitha, there's nothing to check on. He's dead."

"We should be sure." She said shrugging.

Maybe she had a point. Nodding, they got up from the table followed by the puppets and made their way down the hall and into the locked room.

Opening it, he pointed over to the puppet still standing on the table.

"See," he said, "Still there and…"

He stopped mid-sentence just as Tabitha was about to leave.

"What?" she asked, confused.

But he had already started walking over to the table.

Stopping next to it, he looked at the puppet and then turned to leave. Then, without warning, he spun around, grabbing the puppet by the neck and hoisting it up into the air.

"Nice try you son of a bitch!" he said, "But in my line of work, you pay close attention to detail!"

"Jake!" Tabitha said, freaking out and putting her hands on his shoulders, "What is it?"

"Look at his shoes!" he yelled back, not releasing his grasp.

Sure enough, there were traces of mud on the sides.

"Now start talking, since it's obvious you CAN move or I toss your ugly butt into the furnace!"

Suddenly, one of Abomination's hands shot out, hitting Jake in the nose as he inadvertently dropped him, clutching his nose.

As Abomination hit the ground, he stood up quickly as Blade came to attack from one side, Trickster from the other.

As the knife hand of Blade came down toward him, Abomination's right hand raised toward him as a bolt of what could only be described as lightning shot out, throwing the puppet through the air and into the wall, striking it and sliding down.

Turning to face Trickster, Abomination only saw a small needle fly from the tiny puppet's gun, striking him in the neck.

His neck tilted to the side as another burst of lightning threw Trickster into the wall on the other side of the room.

Six shots rang out as Six-Shooter began firing on Abomination, who raised his hand in front of his chest as the bullets impacted against some unseen barrier.

"What the hell is going on?" Jake yelled out, "He was never able to do any of this!"

Turning to face Jake and Tabitha, Abomination raised both hands toward them as Jake quickly pulled Tabitha out of the way and onto the ground roughly landing on top of her.

The air smelled of ozone as lightning whizzed past their heads. Abomination quickly raced past them and out the door, followed by Six-Shooter, Jester and Tunneler.

Looking down at Tabitha, Jake felt himself blush as he quickly got off of her and went to check on Blade who was now getting back to his feet.

"You okay buddy?" he asked.

Blade nodded before running after the others, quickly followed by Trickster who had also gotten up, no worse for the wear.

As Tabitha stood up, Jake ran past her, grabbing her hand as they went out into the hallway where the puppets were all standing, looking around, Abomination nowhere in sight.

Looking down, Jake said, "Ok, Dex. Do your stuff."

Nodding, the Trickster's x-ray specs slipped down over his eyes as he began to look around as he walked down the hallway.

Halfway down, he stopped, staring into Rick's workshop and pointed at the wall.

"Okay, he's in there." Jake said, turning to Tabitha and saying, "Trickster can change the intensity of the x ray goggles at will he can see through wooden walls, metal doors as well as clothes."

She shot him a curious look as he shrugged, "He only told me a little bit." Before moving to the side of the door.

Holding up three fingers, Jake put a hand on the handle of the door and counted down, lowering a finger for each syllable.

"One, two, three!" and swung open the door as the puppets, Jake and Tabitha all rushed inside…and panicked.

Before all of them was sight none of them had ever seen before, well, perhaps the puppets.

What seemed to be a fiery hole was in the back of the room, Abomination standing in front of it, clutching a roll of papers to his chest. To his left and right were two, well, the only thing Jake could call them were "things".

Each one was as large as a man, but they didn't walk. They appeared to roll as they had wheels on all four appendages. Spikes and jagged bone seemed to line their bodies which led to their sneering faces.

Abomination took one look at them and then hissed something toward them as he leapt through the fiery hole and disappeared.

The hole closed behind them, though the two things stayed.

"Who are you?" Jake asked, hesitantly.

"We serve Sutaketh. We are the Wheelers." Hissed the one to the left of him before letting out an unnatural laugh.

Tabitha stood there, jaw agape, unsure of what the hell was going on.

"We are here for you. For the Toulon blood." The one on the right added, looking to Tabitha, an evil smile spreading across its face, a little drool dripping down as if salivating.

The second looked at Jake with the same maniacal grin and salivations, "You will both make our master pleased."

"I'm not a Toulon." Jake stated, "So you're master won't be all that pleased."

The cackle between the pair of them sent shivers down Tabitha's spine.

"We already have one Toulon blood carrier now. Soon we shall have the five." Said the left Wheeler.

Now Jake was truly confused, but kept his poker face on, "Come get us then."

With a sudden whirr, the Wheelers attacked.

Moving to the side and pulling Tabitha behind him, Jake stood his ground, grabbing the chair and hurling it at the Wheeler in front. Colliding with its head, the chair splintered into pieces, but didn't seem to phase it. From out of nowhere, Blade leapt onto the back of the Wheeler, stabbing down at its neck with his knife repeatedly.

Gunshots rang out as Six Shooter kept firing on the second one, who seemed intent on running over the puppets.

A scream was heard as the same Wheeler suddenly spun out of control, slamming into the wall.

From behind it, Tunneler appeared, covered in black blood as the rear tire of the wheeler was seen by the puppets, having been popped by his spinning top. 

Momentarily distracted by its partner's scream, the first Wheeler turned, allowing Jake enough time to shove Tabitha out the door as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the stairs.

"Come on!" he yelled, nearly pulling her down the stairs in a run, the frightened look on her face seeming to give him more bravery.

As they ran out into the lobby, a roaring sound came from behind as the Wheeler sped out from the stairs behind them and squealed on the tile floor as it spun around to face them.

"You will come with us, now." It said goo dripping from its mouth.

Moving Tabitha behind him to shield her, Jake shook his head, whispering, "When I say go, you run for the door and get out of here."

Even though she was terrified at everything happening, she shook her head, "No. I'm staying with you." 

His face grimaced, "Now isn't the time to be arguing." He whispered back, "I want you safe."

"I'm staying." She said, her face turning red.

Shutting his eyes in frustration, he growled, "Fine. On three, we move in different directions. Maybe we can confuse it."

"Okay." Came her voice from behind his shoulder.

"One, two…" he began to say.

But before he could say three, two things happened in unison.

The sound of shattering glass to their left caused Jake, Tabitha and the Wheeler to turn their heads in unison. From their stands, two puppets leapt from their perch and ran between the Wheeler and Jake and Tabitha.

Jake's eyes widened, unsure of how the hell this was happening, but was happy nonetheless.

In front of the pair of them, Decapitron had latched on his electrical head and was aiming the turrets toward the Wheeler while Mrs. Leech cautiously began to move to a position where she would be behind it.

The Wheeler, unsure of what was happening, seemed to be lost in a state of confusion, not sure what to do.

With a clenching of his fists, Decapitron's head unleashed a volley of lightning toward the Wheeler, striking it in the chest as it's wheeled hands extended out as it was electrified. Racing to the corner of the lobby, Leech woman leapt up onto a rope tied to a small metal section and removed a small dagger from her belt. Quickly, she began to saw away at the tied section.

Tabitha looked at what she was doing and up the rope, seeing it was tied to a chandelier above the Wheeler.

With a snap, the rope broke, sending the large crystal chandelier down on top of the Wheeler, crushing it as it let out a scream.

Stopping the lightning, Decapitron slowly moved over to the Wheeler and its head sticking out from under the wreckage.

Tilting his head to the side, Decapitron seemed to be trying to figure out if the thing were still alive.

One shot of energy from his head to the middle of the Wheeler's head seemed to convince him it was indeed finished.

Walking over to meet Mrs. Leech, he took her hand in his and walked over to Jake and Tabitha who were now holding each other's hands and shocked at what had just happened.

"How the…" Jake began to say, "How are you both…alive?"

The pair looked at one another then to Jake. Mrs. Leech pointed to her neck and then to Decapitron's neck.

"They can't talk." Tabitha said as if knowing what she was saying.

Jake looked back to her, "How do you know?"

She shrugged, "I just…know." Unable to explain how she understood what the small woman had meant.

"I don't understand," Jake said, getting to one knee, "The puppets….they can't move around unless there is a soul trapped inside. Who are you?"

An idea popped into his head as he asked, "Andre? Else?"

Tabitha looked over to him, "You think it's them?"

"Well," Jake explained shrugging, "Those were the puppets they inhabited before."

But the pair of puppets were shaking their head, but again, looking at each other as if wondering what had happened to Andre and his wife.

"Ok, if you're not Andre and Elsa then who are you?" asked Jake.

Mrs. Leech approached him, beckoning him closer as she extended a hand and stroked his cheek. Decapitron moved to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Tears began to well up in his widened eyes as Jake stuttered, "M-mom? Dad?"

The puppet pair nodded as Jake bent his head down, shaking it.

Placing a hand on his back, Tabitha knelt beside him, "Oh Jake." She said, trying to console him, "I'm so sorry."

Slowly, he looked up at the pair of them and asked in a choked voice, "How? What happened?"

A crashing noise a few feet from them caused all of them to turn, Decapitron letting out a bolt of electricity toward the noise and hitting the corpse of the second Wheeler. The energy beam struck near the awestruck face etched forever on the Wheeler. Several bullet holes riddled the body and from behind his neck, three puppets emerged, soaked in blood. Blade, next to him, Jester, carrying his little scepter and Trickster, with two tiny knives of his own.

On the edge of the balcony, Six-Shooter and Tunneler looked down, each satisfied with their attacks.

Seeming not to care about the dead body, Jake looked back to his parents.

"What happened?" he asked again, pleadingly.

Decapitron looked at him and pointed up toward the upper level.

Taking Tabitha's hand, he stood up and moved to the elevator followed by the puppets who left the body's and moved behind them. The puppets were a little unsure of what was happening but would never leave the Puppet master and the last Toulon's side.

As the elevator stopped on the family floor, Decapitron and Mrs. Leech, holding hands, moved to Rick's private study and entered, each one crawling up to sit on a table, facing Jake and Tabitha who sat on the couch beside it.

Blade and Trickster moved to side beside Jake while Jester, Six-shooter and Tunneler sat beside Tabitha who allowed Jester to sit on her lap.

Standing, Decapitron pointed toward the kitchen as Jake asked, "The kitchen?"

Decapitron nodded and then pointed to Mrs. Leech and himself.

"They were in the kitchen." Tabitha stated, watching intensely.

Once more, Decapitron nodded.

Making a motion like revving up a motorcycle with his fists, Tabitha nodded, "Those things. Wheelers?"

Mrs. Leech nodded.

Moving his arms out wide, Decapitron made a furious action as Blade hissed something. To his surprise and everyone else's, including her own, Tabitha replied, "That fiery hole thing, right Blade?"

Jake looked over to her in bewilderment, "You understood him?"

She looked over at him and then realized that she had indeed understood what he had said as she smiled.

"Wow. I guess I'm getting in touch with my roots."

Looking back to where Decapitron was waving his hands, she said, "Sorry."

"So," Jake recapped, "You two were in the kitchen when that whatever it was opened and those Wheeler things came out."

Mrs. Leech nodded as Decapitron continued.

Putting his hands behind his back, he acted as though he were struggling against an unseen force.

"You were tied up?" asked Jake.

Decapitron shook his head.

"Bound by something?" Tabitha suggested as Decapitron nodded.

"But you couldn't see by what?" Jake added.

Mrs. Leech nodded once more.

Standing beside her husband, Mrs. Leech put two fingers on either side of her head to look like a Demon.

"That Sutaketh guy they referred to as their master?" said Tabitha.

Both nodded.

Extending his hand toward Mrs. Leech, he acted as though he were pulling something from her as her body shuddered and then collapsed onto the ground.

Trying to make sense of what had happened, Jake looked over to Tabitha to see if she knew what it meant only to see her shrug.

It was Jester who gave a possible answer as he stood up in her lap and pointed to his chest, then moved to point at Trickster's, Tunneler's, Blade's and Six-Shooter's chests in turn.

"Your souls." Jake muttered, "He was after your souls."

Decapitron and Mrs. Leech nodded.

"But you got away from him." Tabitha stated, "Managed to get inside those bodies before he could do anything."

Mrs. Leech seemed to smile at her and nodded.

"Where are your bodies then?" Asked Jake. "I can get Andre to transfer your souls back."

Both Decapitron and Mrs. Leech made motions as if to say they had no idea.

"The only one who knows is that damned Abomination I'm sure." Tabitha spat.

Jake looked at his father, "How is it that Abomination could even move? I thought they couldn't be alive without the serum."

Decapitron shook his head and held up a finger as if to say, "Let me show you."

He performed several actions as if strangling someone, killing someone, and intense hatred.

Nodding, Jake seemed to understand.

"He was filled with rage."

Mrs. Leech nodded.

"So, that's how you and mom can move around even though there was no serum in the puppet bodies? Your concern and love for me?"

Mrs. Leech and Decapitron both nodded.

"Well," Tabitha said, placing a hand on Jake's, "Learn something new every day. With enough raw emotion, anything is possible."

Jake nodded, "And that's exactly what I'm afraid of."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Abduction**

After the events that had transpired earlier that day, everyone in the museum was on edge, whether it be puppet or human.

The body of the Wheelers had been moved down to the basement where Decapitron and Jake had taken to examining every inch of the bodies to see exactly what they were dealing with.

"I wish you were able to talk to me, dad." Jake said, examining a large bony protrusion on the back of the Wheeler.

Stopping his own examination of the left wheel hand, Decapitron looked over at his son and nodded. He had switched heads to the small black putty one now. True, to Jake's happiness, it had transformed into Rick's head, although he was still unable to speak. Though, it was good to see his father's face again.

Tabitha and Mrs. Leech, meanwhile, were upstairs in the lobby, finishing cleaning up the mess along with the other puppets.

"Jake has been telling me about everything that has happened." She said, sweeping up some glass into the dustpan Mrs. Leech was holding.

The small puppet looked up to her and seemed to smile as she nodded.

"I have to say, it takes one hell of a woman to deal with all of this and not entirely freak out. I'm a Toulon and its taking a lot to keep me sane right now." Tabitha laughed to help ease her feelings, as she picked up the dustpan and emptied it out into the trash can in the middle of the room.

"I know Jake's glad to have you two back, even if it is in this form."

Blade looked over at her as she caught his gaze and added, "Not that there's anything wrong with being a puppet!" she said, holding her hand in the air, trying not to offend them.

"Oh crap," she said, kneeling down to get closer to Mrs. Leech's level, "I think I ticked them off."

Moving to set a hand on Tabitha's Mrs. Leech shook her head as if to reassure her that this was not the case.

Nodding, Tabitha smiled down saying, "If you'll excuse me, all of this. "She said gesturing around her indicating the current situation. "Has taken a lot out of me. I'm heading for bed."

Mrs. Leech patted her hand gently again in a very motherly way. Tabitha smiled almost imagining she could hear her saying sweet dreams or go get some rest.

In the Underworld, Sutaketh was infuriated due to the failure of two of his minions. Flames soared high into the air to reflect his mood as the screams reached a new arc.

Thrusting his hands down at a slab of rock, two Totems were created in a burst of flames. Each one hissed before bowing on one knee toward him.

"Do not fail me. Bring me the Toulon girl."

The two creatures nodded before disappearing in another blast of flame.

In her room, Tabitha had changed into her pajamas, Jake's sweatpants and shirt, and gotten into her warm bed. Shutting the lamp on the bedside table off, she snuggled against a pillow on her side, she pulled the covers up around her and shut her eyes. After what seemed to her to be several moments, she finally began to fall asleep when she heard something.

It sounded like scratching on the wood floor beside her bed.

She smiled, thinking it was Jester or Trickster coming to pay her a visit, but looking over the side, she didn't see anything there. Confused, she moved to the other side and looked over, again not seeing anything.

Lying back onto her bed, she sighed, "Trickster, go play with Blade. I'm really tired. Please."

There was silence for a moment before the scratching started up again.

Figuring it was some type of game, she simply put a pillow over her head and made a mental note to talk to Jake about Trickster and how he needed to take a hint.

Several moments passed before she thought she heard something outside her window. Now this did get her attention as she sat up in bed and turned on the lamp to see what it was.

However, what she did see wasn't on the window, but rather on the floor by her bed. Two small creatures with long claws etching something onto the floor by her bed. They were as tall as the other puppets, but these had scaly skin, protruding noses and flat heads resembling what Jake had referred to as Totems.

She let out a scream as both of them hisses up at her and began to etch something quickly.

The sound of smashing glass from her window caused her to whirl around as a small man and woman stepped onto the windowsill, one of them, the man, standing there with a gun drawn and aimed at the creatures.

"Damn Totems!" he yelled out, firing out a volley of shots at the one closest to Tabitha. The Totem's head exploded in a fleshy blast as it fell to the floor. The second, not paying attention to its comrade as it tried to finish the strange symbol it was carving into the floor.

Jumping from the window, the white haired figure quickly ran across the wooden floor and fired two shots. The first one struck the Totem in the back as it let out a hiss, turning to face him only to find the tip of the gun shoved in its mouth as Dollman pulled the trigger.

The back of the Totem's head exploded out as it fell backward onto the floor at the same time the door to her room burst open and Jake ran inside, carrying the poker from the fireplace.

"What the hell is going on in here?" he shouted before spotting Dollman and the bodies of the two Totems.

"Andre?" he asked as he put the poker against the doorway and looked over to the window before adding, "Elsa? You're back!"

Andre looked up and cracked a smile, "Yes Jake. We are back. Sorry for the long delay, but we've run into a few problems. Apparently the same ones you have." He said nodding toward the remains on the floor.

"It would seem the Totems are back and after something." Elsa said as she dropped down onto the floor and went to stand beside her husband.

Tabitha still sat on the bed, covers drawn up to her chest as Jake looked over and moved to sit beside her. She was shaking slightly and that had Jake concerned.

"Andre," He said down to the Dollman who was now saying hello to the puppets who were still rushing into the room to see what the commotion was about, "This is Tabitha Toulon."

Looking up Andre climbed the side of the bed and stumbled as he walked towards her, caught in her deep blue eyes. His eyes when he had been alive. He smiled warmly at the frightened girl.

"Hello Tabitha. My name is Andre Toulon and I am your Grandfather's brother." He said as he nodded to her.

The warm smiled the 13 inch man gave her made her want to smile back, "It's a pleasure to meet you Andre. I've heard about you from Jake." She held out her hand and Andre shook a finger in greeting.

"And this…" Andre said, "Is my lovely wife Else."

"A pleasure." Tabitha said with a slight bow in her head to the lady on the floor.

Looking over to Jake, Andre asked, "Jake, has there been any word on your parents? It's imperative we find them."

Jake's smile quickly faded as he replied, "Andre, we need to talk about that. I found them."

Andre could sense the dread as his face grew solemn, "What is it child? Has something happened?"

Looking over Dollman's shoulder he nodded toward the pair of puppets standing in the doorway.

Turning, Andre saw Decapitron and Mrs. Leech as a look of confusion spread across his face. Then, understanding came as he moved from the bed onto the floor and walked over to them, studying Rick's face on his old puppet body.

"My god, how did this happen?"

"They can't talk." Jake answered.

Andre shook his head, "Perhaps not in the way you and I do, but all puppets can speak. You only have to listen."

Turning once more to Rick, he asked, "Tell me what happened. Use your mind."

There was silence as the pair simply stood looking at one another before Andre blinked several times and turned to face the others.

"It is as I feared. The demons of the Underworld are once more after the Toulon bloodline." He stated.

Tabitha shivered, clutching suddenly at Jake's hand, which startled him at first, but then held her hand tightly.

"So," Jake said, "We need to keep Tabitha's safety foremost."

Tabitha looked to him as if he had said something wrong.

"What?" He asked, unsure as to why he was getting that look.

"We need to keep Andre safe as well." She protested.

Shaking his head, Jake replied to Tabitha, but looked between her and Andre.

"Andre, you aren't in your old body anymore. Therefore, it stands to reason; he doesn't want your blood anymore. You're body isn't even from this planet, right?"

To his and Tabitha's surprise, Andre actually laughed, "Child, to Sutaketh, it does not matter what blood runs through my veins. He desires my soul no matter what body it exists in. Now in Tabitha's case, yes, it is her blood that concerns him. In addition," he said, turning to look at Rick before sighing, "We need to keep your father and yourself safe as well."

"Why us?" Jake asked, now really confused.

Rick looked at Dollman and shook his head slightly so only Andre could see it.

"The reason why is not important at the moment. Just know that keeping you and Tabitha safe is our main concern." Andre replied before walking over to Elsa and whispering to her for several moments.

Looking at Tabitha, Jake whispered, "Okay, this just keeps getting stranger and stranger. But don't worry, you are my only concern."

As the words passed his lips, he almost wanted to rephrase them, to take them back. He had just met her yet couldn't explain the attraction he felt or the need to protect he had towards her.

She smiled at him, her blue eyes penetrating him.

"That's sweet. Thank you. It's nice to feel protected."

He nodded, beginning to blush before Andre spoke again.

"Jake, Tabitha, allow me to tell you what is going on." As he climbed the bedpost and sat down as Elsa followed, sitting beside him.

"You see, Sutaketh is another demon who is after me and those of my family and yourselves because he believes I stole the formula for eternal life. It was he who sent Sutekh after me before when Rick and I first met. As he did now, he sent Totems to do his bidding, but that is not all he has at his disposal."

"Yeah, we noticed." Said Tabitha with a grimace, "Those things with wheels in the basement were a hell of a lot more menacing."

Andre arched a brow, clearly confused as to this, but continued, "In any case, he will stop at nothing to get to you."

Pointing over to Rick and Suzie, he continued, "According to your parents, they had began to notice strange things happening in the museum and wrote a letter to you, asking you to return. Days after, they were eating dinner when a portal to the Underworld opened and Sutaketh's minions emerged. They were not concerned with your parent's bodies, for they would be cremated upon entering his realm due to the extreme heat. No, he wanted their souls. So, it was Sutaketh himself that emerged, carrying the Gemstone of Rah. A stone used for drawing out a person's soul and containing it inside the gem. "

Tabitha let out an audible gasp as her eyes widened.

Jake simply sat there, nonplussed, wearing an emotionless face as Andre went on.

"To his great astonishment, he discovered the unusual properties of this place."

Tabitha shook her head asking, "I don't understand."

"You see," Andre began to explain, "There is something mystical about this place. Something even I cannot explain, but it seems to draw the paranormal and unusual here. So, when Sutaketh drew out their souls, instead of being confined inside the gem, they escaped, taking shelter in the only place they could. Inside Decapitron and Leech Woman's bodies."

"So where are their bodies?" Jake wanted to know, sitting up straighter, "Why can't they talk?"

To this Andre had no answer as he shook his head, "I am not sure. Even your parents don't know what happened to Sutaketh after they escape his grasp. As to why they cannot communicate, I can only offer a possibility. You see, when I created my sons and daughter, I placed their souls into the bodies using a known method. They require the serum to live. The way your parents entered the bodies was forced and they moved about because of their strong emotion of love for you. So, perhaps it is due to this that they cannot speak."

A hissing sound from under the bed got their attention as Blade emerged and began hissing rapidly.

Both Andre and Jake said at the same time, "What rune symbols?"

Getting to their feet, Jake pulled Tabitha from the bed and pushing they moved it to the side of the room, revealing an intricate series of symbols carved into the wooden floor surrounding the bed. It had nearly been completed except for two symbols that were half finished.

"What are those things?" Asked Tabitha, looking down at them reaching out to touch one of them.

" Don't." Jake warned pulling her hand back.

Moving from symbol to symbol, Andre studied them carefully before replying, "It seems as though Sutaketh desired you so badly he didn't care what was brought you down to him. Had the Totems completed this circle, You, bed and all, would have been dragged down into the Underworld."

Tabitha's eyes went wide with fear.

"Okay." Jake said, clutching her hand tighter, "From this point forward, we all use the buddy system. Dad and mom, Andre and Elsa, Blade and Trickster. Jester, Six Shooter and Tunneler can alternate with Blade and Trickster. Point is I want no one alone. "

A loud hiss from Blade caused him to look down as Jake explained, "He's the new guy. I need the best to train him."

Blade seemed to accept this answer as he nodded and gave a salute. Trickster answered with his "He he he."

The small laugh caught Andre's attention as he looked down and asked, "And who is this?" pointing to Trickster.

Jake chuckled, "Oh yeah, I forgot, you don't know about Trickster. He's my creation."

Andre's head turned to look at Jake with a strange expression. If Jake didn't know better he would have sworn it was pride and surprise.

Turning to the new addition, Andre nodded to him, "Well, welcome to our family Trickster."

"So, since it is late and we are all tired, Tabitha can come sleep with me."

He knew he had made a grammatical mistake as he quickly corrected himself, "I mean she can come sleep in my bed while I stand guard."

There was a faint "Ooooo." And "He he he" from the side but Jake didn't even bother looking at them.

Coughing, Andre said, "Yes. I think that would be best. I need to speak with your father."

Looking to Tabitha, Jake was not surprised to see her blushing brightly, but smiling at him. He was sure his own face was bright red as he escorted her from the room and down the hall to his own room.

"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to embarrass you." He said, opening the door and shutting it behind them, turning on the light.

The room itself looked almost how she thought it would. There were dirty clothes in a pile in the corner, a worktable with numerous tools and pieces as well as what appeared to be a blueprint with a small figure on it. Several details pointing to various parts of the body.

In the center of the room was a king sized bed with a red comforter on it. Various smaller pillows lay scattered on the bed. No doubt for the puppets to sleep on.

"Go ahead and crawl in. You need the sleep more than I do. Besides, I have some work to do on my project."

Nodding, she lifted back the covers and got into bed, pulling a pillow close. Sitting down at the table, he began looking at the blueprint and scribbling in a few things with a pencil for several minutes before decided to look over at her.

He was rather shocked to see her lying there staring at him with those blue eyes.

"You know, you don't have to be scared of me." She said with a smiled like a cat that caught the canary.

"Totems, those things with wheels and a demon are out to kill us and you think I'm afraid of you?" He asked, arching a brow.

Hmm. He did have a point there, she thought before replying, "You need sleep too and I won't bite."

His heart was now racing as he nodded, "Sure, you're right." Before walking over to the lamp in the corner of the room turning it on. It gave off a dull light before turning the main light off.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, he laid down, wearing only a t-shirt and cut off shorts.

The two lay there, looking at each other before they couldn't help it and smiled at one another.

"Some day, huh?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"To say that this is the most unique experience I have ever had would be an understatement." Tabitha said with a giggle. Truth was she was feeling a little giddy so close to Jake or perhaps her body was so full of emotions from the day it didn't know what to feel.

They were quiet for another period of time, neither one feeling tired now in the least.

"Thank you for protecting me today." She finally said, stretching so her hand was now beside his.

With another stretch from the pair, their faces were now only inches apart.

"You have the most wonderful eyes." He heard himself say, this time not wishing he hadn't said it.

She smiled broadly, "Thank you." Before leaning forward and kissing him.

Breaking it off, she pulled back, unsure of how he would react. But, she was pleased when he pulled her forward to kiss her himself.

After a few more light kisses Tabitha's body finally relaxed enough to sleep and as she slipped into slumber land. Jake held her close running a hand lightly through her hair.

"I promise to protect you Tabitha." He whispered into her ear softly and to his delight she smiled and murmured happily in her sleep.

Jake leaned back against the pillow, intent on figure out what to do next but soon he drifted off as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Betrayal**

The next two weeks at the museum went without incident. Due to the possibility of future attacks, everyone was now on the "buddy" system and no one went anywhere alone. This amused Trickster to no end, telling Jake, he and Tabitha would now have to shower together, go to the bathroom together and so on. To this Jake only replied, "Trickster, grow up."

Even though this was a time of great stress for everyone, there were some happy and humorous moments.

The first one happened three days after Tabitha's attempted kidnapping. The puppets had been moving slowly and needed their injections of serum. As they lay prone on the worktable of Jake's, Trickster decided that since he wasn't quite as depleted as everyone else, he would use this "naptime" to play a prank on Blade that would start a private war between the two.

Blade, after having received his injection, had left the table and was curious as to why people were smiling down at him. True, this was his family now and they needn't fear him, well, perhaps Trickster, but they rarely smiled this much at him.

It wasn't until he passed the full length mirror in one hallway that he realized what it was.

On his pale white face, there was now bright red lipstick on his lips and blush on his cheeks. The daggers from his eyes shot out as a loud hiss could be heard from the kitchen and as Andre and Elsa looked out to see what the commotion was, saw Blade running down the hall toward the injection area.

As the little gothic puppet stormed into the room, Trickster was quickly moving for high ground on the windowsill behind Jake who held a hand up.

"Hold it, hothead." He said, still wearing a smile as whispering and hissing could be heard from the other puppets, especially Jester.

Blade simply looked up at Jake and hissed.

"Yes, I know what he did. I saw it when I was doing the injection. I figured it was a little prank from Trickster." Reaching down, he picked Blade up and using a small wet rag, wiped the makeup from his face, "But no harm done. Back to your old nasty self."

Blade's dagger eyes still focused in on Trickster as he hissed once more and then motioned to be set down.

Tabitha was having a hard time concealing her laughter at this as she held a pillow up to her face as Blade turned and left the room. She was laughing so hard Jake vaguely wondered if she could suffocate stuffing a pillow to her face like that. Getting control she put the pillow down and wiped at her eyes. Jake couldn't help but smile at her.

Looking to Trickster, Jake said, "You had better watch yourself, Dex. He's going to be out to get you now."

"He he he!" was the only reply he got as Trickster received his dose of serum and left the room.

As the puppets left, Jake walked over and sat down on the bed, looking over at Tabitha as he extended a hand and ran it along her cheek.

"We need to talk." He said in a different tone of voice than he normally had. "About us."

She nodded, taking her hand and stroking his. Things between them had indeed progressed beyond the friendship level. Together, they had come to an understanding that their emotions for one another were growing fast and deep, to the point of making love two nights previous.

"I…" Jake was about to say before a noise from the worktable interrupted him, causing him to look over.

He looked back to her as she giggled and nodded, "Go check on junior."

Smiling at her, he stood up and walked over to where a new puppet lay.

The body itself was comprised of both wood and high durability plastic. It was designed to be quite muscular, though not to the point Pinhead had been. A head of short cropped hair topped the puppet, going down to a pair of deep set gentle blue eyes, an homage to Tabitha. The face itself was emotionless, so unlike Trickster with his wide grin.

Looking to its side, Jake looked down at what had made the noise, a small pair of cybernetic hands that were flexing into fists randomly.

"Well, it looks as though your hands are ready, Hunter." Jake said, grabbing a small set of tools and beginning to work on attaching them to the arms of the puppet.

Various pieces of equipment lay scattered on the table including a small flame thrower, two daggers, and what appeared to be a laser pistol. Scattered among these pieces were handfuls of wires and circuit boards.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Tabitha just looking at him with those blue eyes he had fallen in love with. He had never been in love before, but knew that this must be it. His only desire now was to be with her as much as he could. To protect her from any and all harm. Something in his heart told him he wanted to make her happy, no matter what.

He had spoken with Andre and his father about this, with Andre relaying what his father was saying back to him. At first, only four days after the kidnapping incident, the pair had been slightly skeptical.

"In times like these, one might think they are in love, but after everything calms down, it turns out to have been infatuation." Andre stated, though with an understanding smile.

"How did you both know you were in love?" Jake had asked when being told this, "How do you know it's not love?"

Andre and Rick both gave their stories of their spouses and their relationships to which Jake replied that was how he felt.

"Better to let him go on and see if it is indeed love." Andre finally consented. "Perhaps it is true love."

"It is." Jake reassured them.

Now, he sat there looking over at her and before he knew it, he had said what he was thinking.

"I love you, Tabitha."

This sudden outburst caused her eyes to widen slightly as she asked, "Excuse me?"

"I said…I love you." He repeated.

He wasn't sure how she would react to this. After all, they had never said anything like that since they had been together.

She wasn't entirely sure what to say as she sat there on the bed, staring at him. Having been analyzing her own feelings for him, she had come the realization that she had loved him as well, but wasn't sure how he had felt until now. Hearing him say those words still took her by surprise but it was a happy surprise.

The look on his face made her think that he was worried about her reaction. A wide smile came to her face as she stood up and walked over to him, sitting on his lap and looking into his brown eyes.

"I love you too Jake Myers. Even though you can be a tease sometimes." She said with a giggle and kissed him.

Abomination had been standing on the side of Sutaketh's throne chair for an unknown amount of time now. The demon lord had been questioning him and probing his mind in an attempt to better plan his next move.

His Wheelers had failed him, his Totems had failed him. Before making his next move, he would plan out a better strategy. Conversing with the small puppet, he had gained the information he needed to take advantage of the Myers boy's weaknesses and that of the Toulon girl.

The question was how to do it without invoking extreme suspicions in either of them.

Once he had them, Andre Toulon and the soul of Rick Myers would come to him, he knew it. They would give anything for the lives of the children. How pathetic.

Tonight, the first phase of the plan would need to be initiated. For this, he had created his own puppet of sorts. Not a work of plastic, metal or wood, one made from supernatural forces, made flesh and bone nonetheless.

Back at the museum, Jake had nearly completed soldering the armor onto the puppet's torso, except for the helmet. That piece would be removable. The armor itself was still metallic silver in color for now, but that would be changed soon enough. Once that was done, it would be complete. But then, it would sit and wait for a soul to possess it.

Both Andre and Rick had congratulated and complimented him on his work. Indeed, as Andre had said, Jake had become the new generation of Puppet Master.

It was on that next morning while everyone was in the kitchen that a commotion was heard from out in the hallway. Rising from the table to see what it was, they saw Blade running around, his knife hand extended to protect himself from Trickster. The second puppet running around in what appeared to be one of Mrs. Leech's dresses with several small cuts along its back as if someone with a knife and hook hand had forced it onto the little puppet.

There was no longer any laughing from Trickster though it appeared Blade was with his near silent hissing.

"Okay you two," Tabitha said, moving forward and stepping between them, "Break it up."

Blade moved to the kitchen, but still watching his own back by looking over his shoulder.

Trickster thrashed about as Tabitha removed the dress and set him back down, "There. But you have to admit, you had it coming to you."

Looking up at her, he waved a single finger as if to say, "This isn't over." Before turning and walking away.

Shaking his head, Andre, Elsa, Rick, Suzie and Jake and Tabitha all walked back into the kitchen to continue the discussion they had been having.

"So Andre," Tabitha asked, "You said that this museum has some kind of weird mystical properties around it?"

Andre nodded while taking a drink of juice, "Yes, child. You see, I'm not sure what it is, but it is almost like a sixth sense I have. The same way I can communicate with Rick and Suzie. Something is in this house that connects it to other realms of existence, perhaps including the afterlife."

"What makes you say the afterlife?" Asked Jake while putting a third helping of bacon on his plate, just as Tabitha reached over and put it back, waving her finger at him.

Leaning forward she whispered, "No prospective future husband of mine is going to have high cholesterol and have a heart attack." She warned him.

He was about to reply when Andre answered his question, "Well, for instance, there are souls here in the museum that have not moved on. One in particular is still among us, though why he hasn't returned to us in his previous form, I'm not sure."

This caught both Jake and Tabitha's attention as they turned to look at him, "Who?"

"A man named Herman Strauss. Strauss was a truck driver who secretly brought food to the Jewish ghettos; as a result, he was killed by the Nazis for treason." He explained, mostly for Tabitha's sake, "He was known as the puppet Pinhead."

Tabitha nodded, "Jake told me about him. Sweet personality as long as you didn't attack anyone he was close to."

Andre smiled as he nodded, "Yes. But as to why he has not taking up residence inside his repaired body, I cannot tell you."

"Is there a possibility that there is something stopping him from moving on?" Jake suggested.

Shrugging, Andre shook his head, "Who knows?"

After breakfast, the three pairs split up, going their different ways. Jake and Tabitha to his workshop, Andre and Elsa to their own room and Rick and Suzie to the lobby.

As the last pair exited the elevator, they saw something before them that shocked them. Pinhead was standing in the center of the lobby, clad in his normal red sweater, the large puppet beckoned them to follow as if in a hurry, waving his large right hand and turning to leave.

Quickly the puppet pair followed, unsure of what was happening, but if Pinhead was asking for help, they would give it. Opening the door to the basement, he moved down the stairs, Rick and Suzie behind him. Once they reached the lower floor, Pinhead moved to the center of the room and pointed down at something on the floor in the center of the room.

As they moved to investigate, they saw a series of runes almost drilled into the concrete. Ones similar to those in Tabitha's room by her bed.

As Decapitron knelt to one knee to look at it, a mighty first came down from behind, slamming into his back and knocking him face first onto the floor.

Turning, Mrs. Leech was also struck in the side of her head sending her several feet against the wall. Slowly getting back to his feet, Decapitron began to move forward to his wife when a second fist struck him again, knocking him once more to the ground.

A large hand grabbed him by the leg and dragged his body over to where his wife still lay, unmoving as he was thrown against the wall.

Walking around the corner, Pinhead came back carrying a large amount of wire and rope and began tying the two back to back from their necks all the way to their ankles with no possibility of movement.

Shaking his head Decapitron looked over to Pinhead who simply shook his head as his body began to change before them, morphing into that of a demonic looking creature comprised from bones with glowing red eyes but retaining the size of Pinhead.

Picking the pair up, he tosses them into a small crate and shut the lid, before putting another crate on top of that one.

With that work done, the creature vanished in a burst of flame.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Rebirth and Revelations**

Jake and Tabitha had been enjoying a nice dinner with Andre and Elsa when a voice echoed through the hallway from the lobby. It was a voice Jake had not heard in over two months as he stood up, knocking his chair back onto the floor as he raced from the room, closely followed by the others.

Looking over the railing down to the lobby, a broad grin spread across his face at the sight he saw.

"Mom! Dad!" he yelled before running for the elevator.

As Tabitha looked over, she saw both of Jake's parents standing there in the center of the room, smiling up at everyone. They appeared to have been in some type of scuffle, their clothes torn and tattered.

Andre and Elsa had also arrived, peering over as Andre arched a brow, "Rick!" he yelled down.

"Andre! Elsa! Tabitha!" Rick shouted up at them, waving.

Tabitha, grinning as well at the return of Jake's parents also headed downstairs as Andre and Elsa looked at one another before going down.

Running out onto the floor, Jake ran into the open arms of his mother, hugging her tightly for a moment before hugging his father in a tight bear hug.

"My God, how did you get back? What happened?" he asked, finally releasing his father.

Rick laughed, "Okay okay. It's alright. We're back."

Suzie smiled over at Tabitha who had finally arrived and ran up to hug her.

"Tabitha, darling." She said, holding her face in her hands, "It's so good to finally be able to talk with you."

"So what happened?" Jake nearly demanded.

"It's hard to explain." Rick said, placing a hand on Jake's shoulder as the puppets began emerging in pairs, curious as to what the commotion was.

"It started when we left the kitchen this morning," Rick began to explain, "We left and headed downstairs when Suzie motioned to something small heading down into the basement. We followed, not sure if it was a Totem or not. When we got down there, we found Abomination."

Tabitha let out a slight gasp as Rick continued, "I tried to tackle him, but missed. Suzie managed to tip a lamp over on top of him. That's when he actually talked to us. I'm not sure how, but I'm guessing it was the same way he managed to channel his hatred for us into a life force instead of the serum."

"What did he say?" Asked Andre who was slowly walking out toward them, followed by Blade and Trickster.

Rick smiled down at Andre, "Good to see you again old friend."

Andre nodded with a grin of his own, "So you said he spoke to you. What did he say?"

Suzie nodded, "Oddly enough, he said that Sutaketh was indeed after Tabitha and Jake and that he would stop at nothing to get them."

"I told him I'd rather die than let him get his hands on you two so I started punching him." Stated Rick, motioning as if he were punching someone.

"Unfortunately Rick didn't see the fists coming from his other side and got hit in the head, which allowed Abomination to get away." Suzie added.

"Where did you get your bodies back from?" Asked Jake, still not believing the good luck.

"While we were down there, we discovered a crate and when Abomination disappeared beside it, we saw what appeared to be a hand inside. When we pried it open, we found our bodies. When we touched them, there was a bright light and then we were looking down on the puppet bodies." Rick finished and then smiled at Jake.

There was a slight commotion behind Andre which caught his attention. Turning to his right, he saw Trickster poking Blade's hat off with a small dagger. Bending down, Blade held the hat back up using his hook hand and patted it back on before turning and smacking the back of Trickster's head, knocking the x-ray specs down over his eyes before hissing at him as if a warning not to do it again.

Looking back from the bickering puppets, Andre asked, "So have there been any ill effects since your re-transferrence?"

Rick shook his head, "Not yet, no."

Suddenly, a loud hissing filled the room as everyone turned and saw Trickster pointing toward Rick and Suzie and holding his guns out at them.

"Dex!" Jake yelled down with an angry look on his face, "What are you doing?"

Even Blade made a quick movement to him, grabbing Trickster right hand, but to everyone's surprise, Trickster spun and threw the gothic puppet several feet away before turning his guns back onto Rick and Suzie and hissing loudly once more.

Tabitha looked at Jake, confused and scared, "What is he saying?"

Shaking his own head, Jake replied, "He's not talking! He's just hissing like a cat would when it senses something…"

Turning back to his parents, he backed a few feet back, taking Tabitha's hand and pulling her back next to him.

"Jake? Tabitha?" Suzie asked, a look on her face that showed she was hurt.

Another click and Jake turned to see Andre holding his own gun toward Jake's parents.

"Well, it seems Trickster and his unique vision have seen something we haven't. Is that right Trickster?"

Dex nodded twice, keeping his guns trained on the pair before hissing something.

"They aren't who they say they are?" Tabitha repeated, unsure if she had heard him right.

Rick looked down at the puppet before his hand shot out, unleashing a burst of flame toward it.

Moving quickly, Trickster did a series of backflips to avoid the burst.

A series of shots rang out as Andre fired into Rick's chest, knocking him back a few feet, but not killing him. Regaining his balance, Rick stared down at him, but Andre was looking at the chest where there was no blood or any signs he had been shot.

"So, Sutaketh has decided to use illusions to get them has he?" Asked Andre.

Rick sneered down as he spoke, this time his voice was quite different than the one he had been using. A more demonic growl.

"You will be claimed, Puppet Master. You and the other three." He spat.

His facial features began to alter as his hands began to enlarge, forming into a pair of wheels. At the same time, his feet had began to swell and alter as well, bony protrusions extending out his back and shoulders as his face took on a more demonic look.

Suzie had also began her own transformations, but not into a Wheeler, but rather a demon. A long scaly tail emerged from below her waist, wrapping around the bony legs that had broken through her pants. Her hair was burned away as four horns began to protrude through the sides of her skull, her eyes sinking into the back of her head as a red light began to shine from her sockets.

From behind the Wheeler, a tiny figure approached, the drill on top of his head spinning as he connected with the Wheeler's left knee, burrowing into it.

The Wheeler tilted to the side as he lost his balance as the battle began.

Andre began firing on the Demon's head as he ran to take cover behind a wall as Blade and Trickster both ran to help Tunneler.

Six-Shooter had already unholstered his guns as his bandanna went up and emitted his familiar, "Heh Heh Heh." And began firing on the demon along with Andre.

Jake had moved Tabitha to the back of the couch as he said, "Stay here!" and grabbed the poker from the fireplace and moving toward the Wheeler.

In front of him, Jester had leapt onto the back of the Wheeler, avoiding the sharp spikes and began to slice away at the back of its neck with his tiny scepter, his angry face now swiveling on.

A wheel came up, knocking Jester off of its shoulder, sending him to the floor as he turned to see the sharp end of the poker strike him in the eye.

Emitting a loud scream, it raised its wheels up to his head as Jake used the metal rod as a bat and struick the Wheeler on the left side of the head repeatedly, a look of pure rage on his face as he yelled out at it.

"You son of a bitch! Where...are…my…parents?" striking down each time he spoke.

The loss of its eye and the loss of its leg from the knee down, thanks to Tunneler cause the creature to fall sideways onto the ground. But Jake didn't let up, turning, he began to strike down on the creature's arms, trying to break them, to rip them off. At this time, he only knew one thing. Only had one goal in mind, to destroy this thing and to make it suffer on behalf of everyone in the room.

Images of the creature in pain only seemed to fuel his anger as he unleashed another wave of strikes with the poker.

As the creature's right hand became lost to the sharp slices on it, it began to slow its movements as Jake saw Blade from the corner of his eye hacking away at the Wheeler's other hand.

Glancing to his left, Jake saw the Demon overwhelmed by the attack by the number of gunshots being unloaded by Andre and Six Shooter as it emitted a loud hiss and was consumed in a burst of flame.

Turning back, he saw the Wheeler raise a hand toward him as he kicked out with his right foot, kicking the Wheeler in the side of the head before stabbing down with the poker in the back of the creature's head repreatedly.

"Jake!" came a voice from behind him, but he didn't hear it. He didn't want to. This thing needed to suffer for its actions as he continued to stab it.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face a pair of blue eyes, widened and scared.

For a moment, he tried to turn back to the body of the Wheeler but Tabitha kept a strong hold on his shoulders and shook her head.

His breathing was quick and ragged as he continued to stare at her, but as he saw the fear in her eyes, his anger began to ebb away, the protector in him emerging. He couldn't be angry when she was frightened.

The poker slipped out of his hands as she pulled him close to her chest.

Andre walked up behind him, tugging on his left pant leg.

"Jake, we need to find where your parents really are. I realize this was quite the emotional crisis you just went through, but you need to know we are all with you."

Jake pulled away from her chest and nodded down, "I understand Andre."

A search of the basement from Blade, Trickster, Jake and Tabitha revealed his parents whereabouts and after freeing them from their bonds, they explained to Andre what had happened.

"It seems that Sutaketh is going to use everything at his disposal to trick and frighten us, but using our emotional fears against us." Andre explained as everyone in the museum gathered in the lobby.

"I still don't understand why he's after dad and myself." Jake said, as he sat on the couch with his arm holding tight to Tabitha.

"She is the last Toulon, with the exception of you, so I can understand that. But I don't know what he would want from dad and me."

Andre looked over to Decapitron who was currently wearing the Rick head. The two exchanged looks as Tabitha asked, "What aren't you telling us? That's the second time this was brought up and the pair of you just look at one another. We deserve to know."

Sighing, Andre nodded his head, "It is time you knew everything, Jake. Your father and I weren't sure where or when to tell you this."

"Tell me what?" Jake asked, now rather confused and hurt that he wasn't trusted with some information he could have perhaps used.

Sitting back beside Elsa on the small recliner, Andre began to tell his tale.

"You see, my younger brother Robert prided himself on being a ladies man. Always one to wine and dine them, he was very popular. In Paris, he even got himself into trouble with several women for being a gigolo and was even arrested a few times. He took pleasure in comparing me to him, saying that I would never enjoy the kind of free life that he had. I had married Elsa and would be with the same woman the rest of my life, never knowing what it would feel like to be with a different woman every night like he did. I will admit, it angered me the way he taunted me. Though, I should have never let it."

Looking to Elsa, she nodded her head to continue.

"I let it get to my head one evening. I went out with him while Elsa was with her friend. We went to a club, had too much to drink and I let myself go out of control. I do not remember much of that evening, but woke up in a hotel room next to a woman I didn't even recall meeting. We were both naked and it was obvious we had been intimate with one another. She woke up, thanked me for a wonderful night and gave me her name and phone number in case I ever wanted to get together again. I betrayed Elsa's trust and felt miserable. If that is what is was to be Robert, I wanted no part of it. I blamed him for putting ideas in my head. This is what truly led up to my brother's and my relationship dissolving."

He squeezed Elsa's hand as she smiled, saying, "I forgave him for it as I had also had a one time infidelity and I believe it brought us closer together."

"What does this have to do with…?" Jake began to ask as Rick's head turned and shook his head.

Andre nodded, "Please allow me to finish."

Looking down at the floor, he continued, "After that night, I had tried to put it all behind me. I had work to do and continued it for nearly a year before I was invited to a party of a local Aristocrat I had been performing for. Elsa and I were enjoying a fine dinner when something or rather, someone, caught my eye. It was her, the woman I had cheated on Elsa with. She saw me from across the room and motioned for me to come over. I excused myself and went to see her, wanting to apologize once more for what I had done. However, she told me no apology was necessary and that we had both had too much to drink. It was then that she told me she had met someone that next morning and they were now engaged to be married and return to the United States where he worked with the military. I congratulated her and again, we exchanged addresses. I told her as I was touring it would be hard to get in touch with me, but that I would try to keep up with her."

"So she was special to you?" Asked Tabitha

"In a way, yes. You cannot do something like that and not have any connection to them." Andre explained.

Continuing, Andre sat back against the chair and rubbed Elsa's hand for several moments before saying, "It was when we were performing in Cairo again that I received a letter from her. In it she told me that although she was now married to a wonderful man, she needed to tell me something. That night in the hotel room, we had conceived a child, a daughter. I was shocked that she had not told me this when we had met again at that party, but she went on to say how she saw how happy I was with Elsa and didn't want to ruin my relationship with her. Her husband had accepted the girl as his own and there were no complications. She didn't expect me to do anything for her, but she only wanted me to know she still thought of me from time to time."

Tabitha sat there in shock, matching Jake's expression.

"So you have a daughter?" asked Jake.

"No." Andre replied solemnly, "Her mother died while giving birth to her second child due to complications. I kept up with her father to check on my daughter's progress and after she graduated from school in 1940, she planned on going into the medical field as a nurse."

"Did she make it?" Asked Tabitha.

"I killed myself to escape the Nazi's in my room upstairs in 1941. However, upon my return to the living, I did some research and found that she had indeed become a military nurse for several years before retiring and marrying a soldier who had been wounded in the line of duty. Together, they had a son…named Rick Myers."

Jake's jaw hung open as his wide eyes shifted from his father to Andre and back again.

"You knew?" he yelled at his father, "You knew all of this and you never told me?"

Standing, he stormed over to Decapitron and picked him up, yelling into his face, "How could you not tell me something as important as this?"

Getting to his feet, Andre rushed over and yelled up, "It was not by his own decision! I am the one who told him not to tell you! I feared what would happen if you knew the truth, especially now with recent events!"

Dropping his father, the doll landed on the floor in a crouched position, his face grimaced and sad.

Turning his anger on Andre, he yelled out, "So you've been my Great Grandfather for as long as I've known you and you never thought that I might want to know?"

Tears began to well up in Andre's eyes as Jake seemed incensed at this.

"No!," He yelled down, "Don't you dare think you have the right to shed any tears on me! I should have been told long before this. No wonder Sutaketh wants me, I'm in the bloodline like Tabitha is!"

Andre simply nodded as Jake looked between Rick and Andre before storming out of the room.

"Jake!" Tabitha yelled after him, but he didn't turn, as took the elevator upstairs.

Looking back, Tabitha saw Elsa crying into her hands as Mrs. Leech simply sat there, her own head between her legs, her hands clasped over her face.

She didn't know what to do or think. Yet, she stood and walked over to kneel beside the pair of grieving women and said, "He simply needs time to let it soak in. I can understand why he wasn't told, but perhaps he should have been told before this."

Elsa looked up and nodded, "How do you a tell a child something like this? To let them know their life is condemned to be haunted by demons and evil?"

"I don't know, I suppose the same way I was told by Jake. With compassion and kindness. It took me a while to understand what was truly going on, but now I've accepted it and although there are times I'm scared beyond belief, I am proud to be a Toulon."

"Go to him." Said Andre from her side, "He needs the one person he truly feels he can trust and who loves him unconditionally."

Nodding, she stood up and went to the elevators. Turning at the doors, she looked back and saw the puppets all gathered together in a circle around the grieving parents, Andre and Elsa. Their own family.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Prophecies**

Jake remained in his room with Tabitha for the next two days, avoiding everyone with Tabitha being the go between for contact between them and the others in the museum.

When she brought breakfast in the third day, she sat down on the bed, looking over at Jake, who was furiously working on Hunter.

"Jake," She asked quietly, "Has anything changed between us?"

She wanted to know, no, she needed to know. They hadn't spoken of this since everything had been revealed to them by Andre.

Stopping, he looked over at her and shook her head, "Nothing I heard changes the way I feel about you. I still love you and nothing will change that. I'm not going to be another person who shoves you aside simply because of something they heard or some stupid reason. When this is all finished and over with, don't be surprised if you get a certain question asked."

He winked over at her and smiled as she smiled back. She knew what the question would be and for the first time, felt a little calmer. She needed to tell him something, but wasn't sure if now was the right time. Something inside of her was certain he would take the news she had to tell him well and not panic. Yes they were young but he might even be really happy about it. Perhaps it was something that Andre had said when he was telling them of his past.

"When are you going to talk to them?" she asked.

Shaking his head, he replied, "I don't know. It's not that I'm upset anymore, though I was for the first two days. In retrospect, I can see why they did it and accept it. I don't know, maybe I'm being stupid."

"A little." She chuckled, smiling over at him.

"Oh all right. I'll go see them, come on." Jake said as he stood and extended his hand to her.

Moments later, they were in the kitchen with the others as Jake apologized for his actions only to be told he was well within his right to act that way, but everyone was glad he was back on speaking terms with them.

Andre, of all of them, was especially happy to speak with him again.

"I've got something to show you." He said, motioning him to follow to the office upstairs where Suzie normally handled the finances of running the museum.

Using a stack of books, Andre sat down next to the computer and began typing into a search engine on the internet. Strange Egyptian words appeared on the screen as Jake and Tabitha realized he was typing in Egyptian, something neither had seen before.

A new website popped up onto the screen showing several pictures of old scrolls and papyrus etchings.

"This is what I came across while we were in Paris." Andre explained, "It wasn't just a second honeymoon for us, but also a fact finding mission."

"What's written on those scrolls?" Tabitha asked, her curiosity amusing Andre.

"Stories, prophecies, things of that nature." Replied Andre.

Pointing on one scroll inparticular, it held images of small creatures and a large figure standing over them.

"Look familiar?" Andre asked.

Jake nodded, "That looks like a puppeteer."

Andre nodded, "Exactly. This is the scroll describing a pharaoh who was able to give life to inanimate objects. It claims that a sorcerer named Afzel then stole this secret of life from him. According to the scroll, this pharaoh, Utyllo, had bargained his soul with a demon named Sutekh in exchange for this power. When Sutekh came to collect, the pharaoh told him about the theft, but it didn't matter. His soul was taken and Sutekh vowed vengeance."

"That name," Tabitha said, "Afzel. He's the one who gave the formula to you, right? He was being followed by Sutekh's minions, right?"

Andre nodded, "Very good. Yes, I was the last one to be with him before he died. He whispered something to me. Something I have never told anyone, not even your father."

"What is it?" Asked Jake, his eyes wide with excitement.

"He mentioned that one day the…" Andre stopped and thought, "It's difficult to translate, but roughly, "The chosen" would arrive and would have the knowledge inborn to them."

"So," Tabitha said, confused, "In other words, they wouldn't need the formula. They could just," She searched for the word. "…call and the puppets would awaken right?"

Andre nodded, "Correct. But there's more. This chosen person would also face the great demon lord and was destined to defeat him in battle."

Jake arched a brow, "Why are you telling us this, Andre?"

"I would have thought it quite obvious. I think one of you is the Chosen."

The pair looked at one another before Jake laughed, "Well, it would have to be her. I doubt it's me."

Andre got a curious look on his face, "Why would that be? Aren't you the one who created a new puppet single handedly? Didn't you transfer Dexter's essence into Trickster? Aren't you now working on a second puppet?"

Jake shrugged. "So did my father, so why couldn't it be him?"

Andre shook his head, "Not in the way you have done. Your quality of work with Trickster, his mannerisms, his agility is beyond even your father's work."

Jake sighed, "Well, we have yet to see what Tabitha can do. After all, she is a Toulon." As he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. She blushed.

After the two of them left, a movement in the corner of the room caught Andre's attention as Rick stepped out from the shadows and nodded to him.

A few moments passed before Andre nodded as if talking with him, "Yes my friend, I didn't tell them about the "Other". They have enough to be dealing with."

Returning to their room, Tabitha and Jake sat in silence for a while before she asked, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, almost like he couldn't believe what she was asking.

"What's wrong is everything." He stammered, "Everything is going wrong now. First, my parent's souls are trapped in puppets. Next I find out I'm a Toulon and now we find out one of us is predestined to defeat some demon lord. What could possibly be wrong?"

"What's wrong with being a Toulon?" she asked, rather insulted.

"It's easy for you." He said, turning his anger and emotional confusion on her, "You've always been one. It's easy for you to accept, but I haven't been."

She sat there; stunned at the way he was not only talking to her but what he was saying.

"I've also been alone until now. I thought that my situation had changed for the better. I found you and the puppets and…a home?" She ventured, her voice softened by his wrath.

"Don't turn this around on me." He said, turning his back to her, "It's not my fault I've been thrust into this mess. I wish I wasn't a Toulon."

Her eyes widened at hearing those words. For her, it was always something to be proud of. Being the last Toulon until now was something she held dear. Her name was all she had for so very long. Since meeting Andre, she felt a renewed sense of honor at having the blood of the Toulon name running though her veins. But Jake, what he said truly hurt her as she stood and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Asked Jake, shocked to see her leaving.

"I'd hate for you to be forced to share a room with a Toulon." She spat before turning and leaving.

"Well shit." Is all Jake could say, hitting himself in the head with his hand, "Way to go Jake. You've just driven the one woman you would give anything for away."

A scuffle outside was heard before Jester and Trickster came into the room, Jester giving an "Ooooh." While wearing his frowning face.

"Yeah," Jake said in response, "I'll agree with you there, Jester. Oooh. Jake screwed up."

The pair of puppets moved over and climbed onto the bed to sit beside him as he lay back onto the bed, folding his arms over his face.

"I really screwed up this time guys. I mouthed off and should have shut my mouth while I was ahead. I said stuff I didn't mean and now Tabitha is upset with me."

Trickster cocked his head slightly and hissed as Jake sighed, "I told her…I told her I wished I wasn't a Toulon."

"Ooooh!" said Jester whose head turned to the angry face.

Uncovering his face, Jake nodded, "I know, I know. I didn't really mean it. Being told I was a Toulon was a great thing for me, but you guys have to understand, this is all taking its toll on me. This is not some every day run of the mill situation going on here." He said, trying to defend himself, "I love all of you since you ARE my family. That has never and will never change. Andre, Elsa, all you. Especially Tabitha. Guys, I love her more than you know. I'd do anything for her and give my life for her."

Reaching into his pocket, he removed a small velvet bag and said, "See? I even told mom I wanted to marry her. She went and got this. It's the engagement ring dad gave her before they got married and she switched rings." He showed them the small diamond ring before slipping it back into the pouch and into his pocket.

"Not that I'll be using it now. I think she's so pissed off at me, she won't even want to talk to me anymore." And covered his face again as Jester's face twisted to reveal a smiling one again as he walked over and sat on Jake's chest.

"Dex," He said, moving one arm to look over at Trickster who sat there, staring at him, "You know what it's like. Well, at least you did."

Trickster nodded as Jester looked between the two saying, "Oooo?"

Sighing, Jake replied to him, "It's a long story and I don't know if Dex wants me to talk about it."

Turning the little puppet nodded as if giving permission.

Looking over to Jester, Jake put his hands behind his head and started.

"When I first met Dex at the Phoenix, he was just like everyone else. Hard working, straight as an arrow and was polite to everyone. Nicest guy you could ever meet. That was because of Rebecca, his fiancé. They had been dating for three years and he had finally plucked up enough courage to ask her to marry him. Both of them had been in bad relationships prior to meeting, especially her and her ass of an ex."

At this, Trickster simply nodded and looked down at the floor.

"Well, everything was going fine until one night two weeks after they had put the news of their engagement in the paper. They were out eating dinner when he ex-boyfriend showed up. He started yelling at them and saying how he stole her from him and how she was nothing more than a whore. Before either of them could do anything," Jake said, looking over to Trickster who was now slowly shaking his head.

Looking back to Jester, whose face had turned to frown, "The guy took out a gun and shot Dex in the shoulder before turning and shooting Rebecca in the chest two times. Then he took the cowards way out and shot himself."

Reaching over, Jake put a hand on Trickster's back and patted.

"After that, Dex was gone for a month from work. I went to the funeral and he was totally emotionless. Didn't cry or anything, but everyone knew he was hurting. After that, when he came back, we were all shocked. It was as if nothing had ever happened, but Dex was different. Pranking whoever he could laughing annoyingly at anything that could be construed as funny and just being the office pest."

Jester was staring over at his companion and shaking his head.

"I asked him why he had changed. What had happened. He told me that the first week he had sat in his apartment, crying and sitting with the lights out. Suffering. Then one day it hit him. His belief in a rational universe was swept away. Everything just happened, there was no reason or logic to it. His idea of adventure was to cause chaos and confusion all over. In the end, he decided he must show everyone that life is a joke"

Upon hearing this, Trickster turned and let out a "He he he!" loudly and began to do flips on the bed.

"See?" Jake asked Jester who finally turned his face to a smiling one as Jake said, "To be honest, I prefer this version of him. Always happy, wanting people to laugh and enjoy themselves."

Unknown to any of them, Blade had been standing outside the door listening. Turning, he moved to find Tabitha.

He found her in Suzie and Rick's room, sitting on the bed, her elbows on her knees and head in her hands, crying.

Walking up to her, he tapped her on the leg as she stopped suddenly and looked down before smiling at him.

"Hey there Blade." She said, sniffing and wiping away her tears.

It was at the moment Blade actually raised his hands to her as if wanting to be picked up.

Somewhat surprised, she picked him up and sat him on her lap. Looking up at her, he pointed out the door toward Jake's room.

She shook her head, "No. I don't want to talk to him. Especially now."

Blade shook his head as she stammered, "He said he didn't want to be a Toulon, like it was some kind of damned awful curse or something."

Again, Blade shook his head.

"You don't believe me?" she asked, shocked.

Blade simply looked at her and then pointed back toward Jake's room.

"You think he didn't mean it?"

Blade nodded.

She shook her head, unbelieving.

"I was going to tell him something important tonight, Blade. Something that would either turn him away from me or bring us closer."

Letting out a hiss for her to continue, she smiled. She trusted this puppet so much, she could tell him. "Blade…I'm pregnant."

He looked to her stomach and reached out with his hook hand to touch her belly before pointing out the door again.

"No, I'm not about to tell him now." She said, getting angry.

Moving him to the bed, she got up and went into the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it. She needed to splash some cold water on her face and calm down.

When she came out minutes later, she looked around, but Blade had gone from the room. Walking out, she headed for the kitchen when the gothic puppet came running up, pointing to the elevator.

"What?" She asked, confused, "What is it?"

He simply pointed for her to get in the elevator. Nodding, she moved quickly and stepped inside as Blade followed and held up his knife hand to wait.

A moment later, Jester and Trickster came running in followed by Jake who was out of breath.

"Would you two tell me what is so important?" he asked as he looked up at Tabitha and gave a half smile.

"Hi."

She half smiled back, "Hey."

The door to the elevator shut as it began to go down before Blade popped open the fuse box and stopped it between floors.

"What's going on Blade?" Jake asked, not sure what was going on.

"He he he." Said Trickster as he moved to the corner.

Looking up at the pair of them, Blade pointed to each one and then crossed his hands.

"I think he's mad that we're upset with each other." Suggested Tabitha as Blade nodded.

Jester's head spun around to a sad face and mimicked Blade's actions.

"So is Jester." Jake added.

"He." Said Trickster as Tabitha smiled broadly.

"Trickster too."

They looked at one another without saying a word before Jake looked at the floor, "Tabitha, I'm sorry about what I said. I should have never said that. I am proud to be a Toulon. It's just that with everything going on, I was overwhelmed."

"You don't think I'm not?" She half way yelled back, "I'm even more stressed over this than you are. You've been around this kind of stuff your entire life. I've only had two and a half months of experience with it. I'm only now understanding what they puppets say when they talk."

"I…" Jake began to say as she held out a hand to stop him, "And then you say that you've got a lot to be going on with? That you're angry with your parents for not telling you the truth?"

Her face grew red, "I didn't get a chance to know my parents! Both of them were taken from me and now I think I know why. If Sutaketh wants all Toulons dead, than that included my grandfather Robert and my mother. Now he wants me! You have parents who wanted nothing more than to protect you from knowing things that would terrify you!"

Tears began to stream down her cheeks as he reached out and pulled her to him.

Fighting him, she struggled and punched his chest for several moments before giving in and leaning on his chest as his arms wrapped around her.

"I'm sorry." He said over and over, "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

Finally, she nodded in his chest, "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." he replied shaking his head, "I should have thought about you. How all of this has been affecting you. I was selfish."

Moving back, she looked into his face.

"I know you've been under a lot of pressure and stress. I wasn't being fair to you either. I know this is a lot for you to accept as well."

Staring into her eyes, he said, "I love you, you know."

Smiling back, she leaned her head against his chest again, "I love you too."

A hissing sound caught their attention as they looked down and saw Blade staring at them. Pointing once to his stomach, he looked back at her.

Jake looked from one to another before asking, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

She blushed before nodding, "This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but…I'm pregnant."

He seemed to freeze for a moment, going expressionless before he grinned like the Chester cat, "When did you find out?"

"When Elsa and I went to the store to get food, I slipped a test in. So about a week." She replied, relieved that he was happy about the news.

A tapping on his pocket caused Jake to look down at Jester who was grinning.

"Yeah, Jes. I think your right."

Reaching into his pocket, he removed the velvet bag and slid the ring out, showing it to her as she gasped.

"This isn't exactly how I wanted to do this either, but…"

He slipped the ring onto her left wedding finger as he asked, "Tabitha Toulon, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Again, tears began to roll down her cheeks as she hugged him, saying, "Yes."

There was hissing in the elevator as the puppets celebrated as well before Blade turned the elevator back on and it moved back upstairs.

"We need to find my parents and Andre and Else." Jake said, holding her hand and pulling her out.

"Dex, can you see where they are?" Tabitha asked.

Flipping down his x-ray specs, Trickster looked around and then pointed to Tabitha's old room on the next level and hissing.

"What are they examining?" Asked Jake as Trickster shook his head.

Moving up the stairs, Jake reached to open the door when he heard a commotion inside.

Reaching over to his side, he removed a small dagger he had taken to carrying with him in cases like this as he tried to open the door but found it locked.

"Andre!" he yelled twice before moving back and kicking the door at the handle as it flew open.

Two things happened in succession as he entered the room. From the corner of his eye, he saw Andre and Elsa, bound by ropes and lying on the bed. In front of him, a Wheeler was writing something on the wall with a sharp protrusion from his wrist, covered in blood.

As the door opened, it turned to him and laughed before leaping onto the bed.

Before he could take more than three steps toward them, a ring of fire circled the bed as the flames rose, covering it from view. A few seconds later, the flames disappeared, leaving nothing but an ash ring around where the bed had been.

Quickly, he moved to the floor and looked down, seeing the rune symbols that had now been completed in a circle around where the bed had been.

"Damn it!" Jake shouted and kicked the ash.

"Jake…" Tabitha whispered as he looked over at her.

"What?" wondering what it was she saw.

Looking over to where she was pointing, he saw what had been written on the wall as the dagger dropped from his hands.

SURRENDER OR THEY DIE

To be continued on Book Three of the Puppet Wars.


End file.
